


Big Damn Heroes

by snack_size



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Firefly Verse, Alternate Universe - Space, Background Hot Dads, Canon-Typical Violence, Developing Relationship, Kidnapping, M/M, Team Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-09
Updated: 2013-12-09
Packaged: 2018-01-03 22:09:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 25,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1073632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snack_size/pseuds/snack_size
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stacker Pentecost, Captain of the Firefly Class vessel Striker Eureka, has a good crew that's willing to take on just about any job, so long as you can pay. Things have been going pretty well lately, so it would figure that life is about to get more complicated when they pick up two travelers and soon find themselves stuck as go-betweens for Weis and the Kaidanovskys, struggling to keep the Alliance off their back, and hoping not to get on the radar of Hannibal Chau and his crime syndicate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this with the intention that it would be accessible for people not familiar with Firefly - just treat it as Pacific Rim, in Spaaaaace. The [Firefly Wikia](http://firefly.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page) is probably your best resource, but, really short version: everyone packed up and left earth ("the Earth that Was") and terraformed some new planets in a new Galaxy. There was a conflict between the Independent Outer Planets (the soldiers were known as Browncoats) and the wealthy inner planets, the Alliance. The Alliance won in the battle of Serenity, bringing the Outer Planets ostensibly under their control. But things are still pretty unregulated out there, allowing crews like Stacker's to carry on illegal(ish) activity as they try and maintain a degree of independence. 
> 
> For those who do know Firefly - hopefully you enjoy, and spot the Easter Eggs. I took some liberties with the Companions Academy and how that works and I took some minor liberties with world building, like making the technology more advanced (characters have tablets that they use, etc). 
> 
> Many, many thanks to the fantastic LokiNeko for the art, included here and [available here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1075781) (and where you should tell them how amazing it is). Many thanks also to my fantastic betas: iheartdraco11, owlpockets, and oh_simone. I don't write action, usually, so I needed the support! All mistakes are mine from post-beta editing, because...well, I can't help myself.

“We are just waiting on Raleigh and Yancy,” Mako said, not looking up from the book she was reading. Stacker smiled at the frilled pink umbrella she was sitting under. “I have found a passenger.”

“I have as well,” Stacker said. Mako looked up and then and narrowed her eyes at the man with the cane.

“You can pay all the way to Zephyr?” she asked.

“Give me some credit,” Stacker said, though he could see why Mako would be circumspect. The man appeared to be wearing all of the clothes that he owned underneath his fur-lined parka - even though it was only early fall. “The boys can dock once we’re in orbit, if Yance is running late. You want to make introductions with me?”

Mako nodded and gathered her chair, umbrella, and sign - _Destination: Zephyr. Trade, Credit, Platinum Accepted._

“Oi, Stacker!” Herc jogged out of the cargo bay, nodded at Mako and then inclined his head in the direction of the open cargo bay. “Boys sent some stuff ahead, looks like.”

“Good,” Stacker said, and smiled. “Put it in the hold?” Herc nodded and narrowed his eyes at the man with the cane. “Everyone’s in the Bay?” Herc nodded - he’d got the rest of the crew and Mako’s passenger assembled for the standard introductions. Once they were all in Stacker motioned for his daughter to seal the door. “I like to make introductions when we take on passengers - Striker’s a tight vessel, so you should know the whole crew.”

“You!” said Stacker’s passenger, and he pointed at Mako’s passenger. Her passenger was small, wearing a white button down with sleeves rolled to reveal garish tattoos. He narrowed his eyes at Stacker’s passenger.

“Geiszler,” sneered Stacker’s passenger.

“It’s Newt!” he shouted back. “Seriously, how many times - it’s Newt!”

Chuck snorted, then side-eyed Herc, like it was all Herc’s fault that the two of them were regularly subjected to this sort of thing. As though Chuck wasn’t _involved_ in it half of the time.

“Well,” Stacker said. “It seems you two know each other - and if you insist on bickering, I’ll have you thrown in the airlock ‘til we get to Zephyr.” Geiszler and Gottlieb narrowed their eyes at each other. “Don’t care why you want to get there and I won’t be asking as long as you pay. This is the crew - Herc’s my right-hand, takes care of logistics, you need anything.” Herc gave the two men a grin. “Mako’s our chief engineer, my daughter.” He arched an eyebrow, and it did not seem lost on the two passengers. “Chuck, our pilot. Herc’s son.” He arched the eyebrow again. “Tendo does computers, communications.”

“What, I don’t get a _no touching_ warning?” Tendo asked.

“Like that’d make a difference,” Chuck grumbled. Tendo crossed his arms.

“Raleigh and Yancy Becket are coming in the shuttle - looks like Yance is running late again, so they’ll be docking once we hit orbit.” Stacker added. No doubt it was Yancy who caused their delay.

“What do they do?” asked _It’s Newt._

“Companions,” said Herc. _Well, officially, at least,_ Stacker thought. “And they charge a hell of a lot more for a romp than we do for a jaunt over to Zephyr.”

“I have no intention-” blustered the man with the cane, and then he checked himself. “I’m Dr. Gottlieb.” _It’s Newt_ rolled his eyes.

“Newt,” he said. “Uh, Newton Geizsler. Doctor, too. But call me Newt.”

“Got that,” Herc said.

“Tendo can show you to your quarters,” Stacker said. He watched as the two left. “What’d we get?”

Herc nodded over at the two crates that had arrived that morning. He opened them carefully as Stacker, Mako, and Chuck leaned over the crates. “Figures,” Chuck said, when the first revealed a knit cream sweater.

“Honestly?” Herc asked, and he picked the sweater up carefully. “Even as packing material, don’t need anymore of those.” He shook the sweater. Gold-wrapped bars were underneath the sweater.

Stacker grinned. “Same in the other?” he asked, while Herc tossed the sweater at Chuck. He scowled. “Might make a pitstop at Cherno Alpha worthwhile.”

“Kaidanovskys are actually in the market for something?” Chuck asked.

“Kaidanovskys are the only ones who could off-load this much quantity,” Stacker said. _Well done, boys,_ he thought, though he was waiting for the day when the Companion’s Guild picked up on their extracurricular activities. “Besides, we haven’t seen them in a while. Might have got their hands on something we need.”

Stacker walked off, and decided not to turn even as Chuck said, “Didn’t Sasha shoot Stacker last time we were on Cherno?”

“Was his fault,” Herc replied.

* * *

“Welcome back, Becket Boys! I presume business is humming along nicely?” Tendo said, over the communication link.

Yancy groaned at Tendo’s attempt at a pun and Raleigh closed his eyes. “Kid! You’re steering!”

“Right,” Raleigh said. Yancy flipped on their communicator.

“I expect a lot better, Tendo,” Yancy said.

“I have to work with what I’ve got, what can I say?” Tendo replied. “You ready for Chuck to initiate docking protocols?”

“Ready and willing,” Raleigh replied. Yancy elbowed him, Raleigh groaned.

“And I’m not supposed to take a set-up like that?” Tendo replied. “Captain’s pretty pleased with what you two sent over.”

“Just a couple’a sweaters to keep him warm on these cold space nights,” Yancy said, before Raleigh could open his mouth. He turned the communication device off. “Two passengers. Didn’t get a chance to mention it to you.”

“Ah,” Raleigh said, locking the shuttle onto the side of Striker Eureka. “Ata girl, Gipsy,” he said. “And looks like we’re just going to make dinner.”

Yancy rolled his eyes. “C’mon, kid,” he said. “You know how Stacker hates it when anyone’s late.”

“You-” Raleigh stopped. He tossed the bomber jacket in Yancy’s direction and Yancy grinned at him. The matching jackets had been Raleigh’s idea - one of the many Yancy couldn’t quite say no to. Stupid kid had refined the concept of puppy dog eyes down to an art form.

“Missed a few inches,” Yancy said, when he tumbled out of Gipsy and into Striker.

“You know I never miss-” Raleigh called and he marched right at the door. He took a step out and nearly fell flat on his face - he was anticipating a half foot drop and instead meeting with equal footing. “Goddamnit.”

“Got to keep you from getting cocky, kid,” Yancy said. “Something smells good - Chuck must have cooked tonight.”

“Are you being sarcastic?” Raleigh asked as they walked towards the kitchen.

“I like Chuck’s cooking,” Yancy said before they stepped into the dining area. “Hello, crewmates.”

“We’ve been waiting, assholes,” Chuck replied. “Also, these two know each other - Newt, Dr. Gottlieb, these are our brother whores - can we eat now, Captain?”

“Do not call them whores,” Mako said. She narrowed her eyes at Chuck.

“What Ms. Mori said,” Herc replied, and he picked up a large bowl. “Stew, and, uh, rice.”

“Raleigh,” Yancy said, pointing at his brother. “I’m Yancy. Nice to meet both of you. We’re in the shuttle.”

“What’s the stew made of?” Raleigh asked.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Chuck asked. Raleigh stuck his tongue out at him. Yancy sighed. Those two - it took so little, these days. He was really tempted to tell Raleigh to just take Chuck into the shuttle for the afternoon, free of charge. It would certainly be worth it.

Dr. Gottlieb squeezed his eyes shut. “Do they always do that?” He didn’t seem to be asking anyone in particular.

“Yes,” said Herc and Tendo, though Herc appeared slightly aggrieved by it. Raleigh inhaled, like it was all on Chuck. As though he hadn’t pinpointed how to press Chuck’s buttons after four or five days and then had decided to try out all of the different sequences since then.

“Oh, hey, wrinkly dude!” said Newt, presumably getting Max caught up in his feet. “Didn’t know you had a dog on board. They’re pretty hard to come by, aw, so little buddy-” He reached down and pet him.

“He’s not your-” Chuck began, then Herc kicked him under the table. “Ow!”

“The dog is used to scraps,” Stacker said, and gave a slight disapproving look at Herc, who shrugged his shoulders.

“Aw, no problem-o, dude,” said Newt, and he picked a piece of something out of his stew and put it under the table. “Does he do tricks?”

“No, those two are the only ones who-” Chuck began.

“Chuck,” Mako growled, slightly.

“He shakes,” Chuck said.

“Shake! Aw, to the side! Down low!”

Dr. Gottlieb rubbed at his forehead and looked around the table. Yancy shrugged his shoulders. Had Gottlieb thought that the people who chose to live up in space, in the Outer Rim, even a ship as nice as Striker Eureka, were going to be normal?

“Stew’s good, Chuck,” Yancy said, and grinned at him. Chuck narrowed his eyes, as though he thought Yancy had suffered from some form of brain damage.

“Well,” said Tendo. “This sure is nice, isn’t it. Happy family, all back together…”

* * *

“How eager are you two to get to Zephyr?” Stacker asked as their passengers helped clean and put away the dishes.

“I believe that I contracted for-” began Dr. Gottlieb.

“Eh,” said Newt, interrupting him.

“Might have to make a pit stop at Cherno Alpha and handle some business,” Stacker said. “It would be about a half a day delay.”

Dr. Gottlieb considered this, then nodded. “That would be acceptable.”

“Isn’t that the moon, run by the two crazy Russians?” Newt asked.

“It would be,” Stacker said. Sasha and Aleksis were more than in their right mind - but the whole act tended to keep certain elements from trying to get too involved. Stacker often wondered if he should give it a try - people seemed to take a more hands off approach when they thought you were unhinged. On the other hand, he wasn’t seven foot tall or Russian, so he might be at a disadvantage. He supposed he could always start with a goatee, though.

“Heard they can get you just about anything,” Newt said.

“You interested in purchasing something, you should figure that out soon,” Stacker replied. “We’ll be there in about forty-eight hours, and they’ll probably want half that time to get whatever it is together.”

Newt nodded, though something odd crossed his face as he thought about it. “Sure,” he said.

“Just get a message to Tendo,” Stacker said. Newt nodded but darted his eyes. He was up to something, Stacker thought. Not surprising. Most of their passengers were up to something or else they would have contracted for passage on a much more legitimate vessel.

Stacker noticed Newt’s hands shaking as he dried the dishes and made a note to keep an eye on him.

* * *

“Hand me that wrench,” Mako said. Chuck complied. He was determined to know more about the mechanics of the engine. He could make Striker do some pretty insane shit, but he wouldn’t know how to fix anything if it blew up. And the pretty insane shit had a tendency to blow stuff up - much to Mako’s ire. “See, you want to make sure that the hydraulized pressure injector is well lubricated so it’s working at optimal pressure...so you have to test, and then adjust, and then test again…”

“Why wouldn’t they be firing at optimal pressure?” Chuck asked.

“If someone were, I don’t know, putting more pressure-”

“On the pressure injector?” Chuck asked. Mako turned and appeared to be debating hitting him with the wrench. She demurred and stuck her head back in the engine.

“Chuck,” she said, and he knew something was coming from her tone and from the fact that she had her head in engine.

“Mako.”

“You are suddenly angry about the Beckets being companions,” she said.

“I’m not angry about it-” Chuck began.

“Calling them whores,” Mako said.

“They are whores,” Chuck protested. “Even if they’ve got some fancy certificate-”

“It is difficult to become a Companion,” Mako said. “It requires intense training from the age of twelve.”

Chuck made a huffing sound - he knew all about it. He’d been shocked to find out that the two soldiers that served alongside his father and Stacker, who Chuck had fucking idolized when Herc told stories about them, had taken a little leave of absence from the Companion’s Academy to fight for the Browncoats. That they had gone back afterwards and finished up, using those stupid smiles and big eyes of theirs to get readmitted and get their licenses. And now they were now sleeping with the very people they used to fight against.

“Don’t see why,” Chuck said. “Only took me a year to figure out how to fly.” Mako had no retort for this, so Chuck smiled. “Besides, we’re supposed to act like it’s OK...because the Alliance sanctions it for the rich, yeah?”

“Yes, this is true,” Mako said. “But their presence has given us many opportunities. And renting the shuttle…” She poked her head out again and pressed her lips together, as if considering something.

“Space whores,” Chuck finished and handed her the tool he knew she was going to ask for.

Mako shook her head and accepted the tool before ducking further into the depths of the engine. “Perhaps you are just frustrated,” she said.

“Oi, what-”

“It is understandable,” Mako finished. “They are both a lot to handle.” She didn’t say anything after this and Chuck didn’t really feel like engaging her further. Instead he leaned back and turned his tablet on to look at the manual for the fuel injectors that they were working on next.

* * *

Herc stood in the door and brandished a bottle of whiskey from their last import from the Core planets. “Last one,” he said.

“Get in here,” Stacker said, and he moved over and took a seat on the bed so Herc could take the chair. Herc brandished two mugs from the kitchen and filled them.

“What do you think the little tattooed guy is up to?” Herc asked, taking a long swig from his mug.

“Something,” Stacker said. “Though Mako thinks he’s just not used to being outside of the Core.”

“She’s got a soft spot for eccentrics,” Herc said. Stacker met his eyes and wasn’t sure who Herc was referencing. Could be the Beckets, Tendo, or Herc and his son. Hell, even Stacker himself.

“Not all of us can be dad of the year,” Stacker said, and nodded at Herc’s mug. It was Chuck’s birthday gift to Herc last year. The kid had turned bright red when Herc actually put it in the communal kitchen. _Both of them_ , Stacker thought, _are complete assholes._

“Well,” Herc said, and he smiled slightly and leaned in a little closer to Stacker. For a moment, their knees knocked against each other. Herc felt an odd tug in his stomach, but before he could explore that further the door opened. Chuck appeared as though summoned.

“The guy you took on has an Alliance tracking device in that dumbass coat of his,” Chuck said. He had a gun in his side holster. Herc nodded.

Stacker exhaled - they’d been off Alliance radar for some time, now, so he supposed it was about time they came calling. Especially when they had a huge quantity of illegal food ration bars in the hold.

“Tendo triangulated it,” Chuck said. “They’re just tracking, right now, no pursuit, far as he can tell. Want me to get the Lux?”

Stacker noticed the grease smudged on Chuck’s hands. He’d been helping Mako again, and Stacker had to remind himself it was a good thing. Mako would be a positive influence on Chuck. But, then again, there was the corollary. Chuck could be a bad influence on Mako - or they could have sex with one another. Stacker wasn’t sure what was worse. He eyed Chuck suspiciously. Chuck scrunched his face, then shook his head.

“Hardly need it,” Herc grunted, and nodded at the smaller gun Chuck had with him. He sucked down the rest of the whiskey in his mug. “You could just take that one down with your fists.”

“Oi,” said Chuck. “Until he whacks you with that cane of his.” Herc shrugged and pat the pistol in his shoulder harness. “We gonna confront him on it, or..?”

“Yeah,” Stacker said. Just when he’d settled in for the evening, too - whiskey, new movie he’d downloaded when they had been on Caliborn. “Fuck.”

They swung by Tendo’s office - really just a space right underneath the cockpit that he had carved out by filling it with his computer arrays - to see the proof.

“There’s the signal,” Tendo said, pointing to one of his monitors. “You can see its Alliance because of the numbers and where it’s beaming-” he pointed to another monitor. Stacker nodded.

“Good catch,” he said, and clapped Tendo on the shoulder. Tendo swiveled in his chair.

“Not hard, Captain,” he said. “Not like we broadcast anything, regularly-”

“Doesn’t matter,” Stacker said. “Keep on it, keep me updated?” Tendo nodded.

They banged on Geiszler and Gottlieb’s door. Herc made a grumbling sound when they realized the room was empty and then nodded towards the cargo bay. As they walked past the shuttle, the door swung open. “Whoa, you guys got a posse together without us?” Raleigh asked as he poked his head out.

Chuck audibly sighed. Stacker understood. At least Raleigh was wearing one of those stupid sweaters and pants, though, as compared to Yancy’s soft robe, pink printed boxer shorts, and matching fluffy slippers.

“Really?” Herc said. Normally he kept his mouth shut when it came to the Beckets, but-

“You think I’m bringing the badass quotient down, I can just stay here,” Yancy said, amicably. “Who are we after, anyway?” He yawned.

“Just stay there,” Raleigh said, and took the gun that Yancy handed him and slid it into the waistband of his pants. Yancy nodded as Raleigh rolled his eyes and closed the door on him. No doubt he was headed back to bed - Yancy had a very small work to nap ratio, and after two days off with clients he was going to require at least one full day of sleep. He was a lot like Max, Stacker realized.

They opened the door to the cargo bay. Herc expected Gottlieb to be rooting around, trying to find something illegal. Instead, he was seated on the walkway, back to the wall with a pillow behind him, legs dangling as he read on a tablet. He narrowed his eyes as they approached but, as far as Herc could tell, did not seem to suspect they had come to round him up. “I’m sorry, should I have stayed in my quarters..? It was a bit cramped, what with Geiszler in there, and I wanted some quiet-”

Normally, Herc would have just grabbed him and hoisted him up, but he was sensitive to his disability. Supposed disability. Although this wouldn’t be the first time they were taken in by-

Chuck seemed to think the same thing, and he pulled out his small revolver and pointed it at Gottlieb. “You will be staying in now, spy.”

Gottlieb looked scared, horrified, and confused. Herc heard Stacker sigh - it was so much easier to just deal with a legitimate Alliance plant. There were a few looks that most people couldn’t fake and the one on Gottlieb’s face was one of them.

And the whole thing was only compounded by the fact that they were nearly to Cherno. The Russians weren’t going to like them coming in with a tail - much as Stacker would have liked to see a little Alliance fishing expedition try and get the Kaidanovskys to cooperate on anything. “Spy?” Gottlieb managed, finally.

“We’ve triangulated the Alliance tracking device in your coat, Doctor,” Stacker said, and leaned against the wall. “You really don’t know anything about that?”

“I only set the jacket down when I-” Gottlieb closed his eyes for a moment, then sighed. “I will need to explain. You see, the thing is-”

“Not here,” said Stacker. “Not comfortable.”

“Coat,” Herc said. Gottlieb removed it and handed it to him. Herc passed it off to Raleigh. “Get it to Mako and Tendo to look over, yeah?” he said.

Gottlieb was able to get himself upright pretty adroitly. He probably had really decent upper arm strength. He leaned over and picked up his cane, and it was clear that his one leg was twisted coming out of the hip.

“Don’t suppose that would be a war wound,” Chuck said.

“Actually, it was,” Gottlieb said. Herc gave Chuck a slight side-eye - kid really needed to learn when to shut up.

Herc would have thought, between him and Stacker, his son would have plenty of positive examples as to the benefit of keeping quiet. Not to mention the Beckets were a good contrast. But, no. Chuck was and likely always would be a mouthy little shit.

They all walked into the common area, Stacker and Herc on either side of Gottlieb. He sat down on the couch while the three crew members remained standing, looming over him. Pretty standard technique, though, intimidating people by taking up space over them.

“This got anything to do with how you know the runty one?” Stacker asked, and crossed his arms.

“He isn’t-” Gottlieb said, and then pressed his lips together. “No. I don’t believe so. But we did work together. I didn’t support the Alliance, I will have you know. It’s just, as a scientist, all of the work that I wanted to do...to accomplish, I needed to be in the Core...but, after finding out what I did, I couldn’t, in good conscious…”

“So you made a run for it?” Herc asked. Gottlieb nodded. Herc glanced at Stacker - he was inclined to believe him. Besides, between Tendo and Mako’s hacking skills they should have been able to confirm or deny his claims within a few minutes. Herc stood up and walked to Tendo’s office.

Chuck, he noted as he walked away, was doing his very best to glower and appear intimidating. _That boy_ , he thought… At least Raleigh was there instead of his dumb ass brother. It really was too bad Yancy was the better shot, or Herc would have told Stacker they should leave him out of the active gun-toting end of their business entirely. Didn’t need Yancy’s special approach to life muddling up the crime.

“Said he made a runner,” Herc grunted at Tendo and Mako. “Found out something, decided he couldn’t work for them in good conscious-”

“It would check with his file,” Tendo said, and handed Herc a tablet. Herc squinted - damned if he was going to wear reading glasses, despite what Stacker and Chuck said. “High level of classification, quickly deactivated, location unknown..? When we know they know where he is?”

“They are still not following us,” Mako said. “Probably to intercept at Zephyr - we did indicate to Chase that we would be making a delivery there.”

“Alliance tends to track his logs pretty closely, after the whole Nova incident,” Tendo confirmed. Mako smiled at him.

Herc nodded - it would make sense, and, not that he had any allegiance towards Gottlieb, but he sure as hell didn’t want the Alliance to get what it wanted. He walked back to the common area and gave Stacker the tablet. “Checks out,” he said.

“So what did you find?” Stacker asked, after glancing at the tablet. Herc remained standing. “What kind of doctor are you, anyway?”

“A physicist and mathematician, primarily, but I’d been dabbling in the biophysics and bio-engineering departments,” Gottlieb said, and, not even looking at them, presumed they were unaware what that meant as he continued, “you know, looking at ways to make new medical devices, primarily, but on a cellular level. I came across some engineering they were doing, on citizens, they wanted me to work with them, and…” He shook his head. “I would not experiment on human beings.”

“Wait, so…” Raleigh said, and was deliberately appearing less perceptive than he was. “Is that where you met your tattooed friend?” He widened his eyes, and Herc wondered what he was up to.

“Yes, of course,” Dr. Gottlieb said, irritable. Herc smiled at how easily successful Raleigh’s tactics had been, considering they hadn’t got an answer out of Gottlieb earlier on this question. Companion training - not just for the erotic arts. “He worked in the biology division, but left years ago, before they got involved in the experimentation…we never got along.” Raleigh nodded his head. _Nice little fishing expedition,_ Herc thought.

“Hey!” said Newt, who apparently had been lurking the entire time on the small walkaway around the upper level of the common area. Herc rolled his eyes while Stacker just exhaled through his nose. “I always thought of you as a friend, Hermann!”

Dr. Gottlieb rolled his eyes, as though he couldn’t imagine anything worse.

“You have to understand, this isn’t ideal, Alliance having an interest in you,” Stacker said. Newt moved quickly, but Chuck held him back to keep him from sitting next to Gottlieb on the couch. That was a sound decision, at least - if Newt got to talking, they were going to be listening for some time.

“Well, I’m hardly some sort of risk, I just quit my job-” Gottlieb began. “I don’t really see what the problem is.”

“They’re space pirates, Hermann!” Newt said.

“Space pirates?” Gottlieb asked.

“You got a job, we can do it, we’ll do it,” Stacker said.

“Might involve some crime,” Herc added.

“Usually involves some crime,” Chuck said.

“I see,” said Hermann. He narrowed his eyes at them. Herc wanted to smack his own forehead - was the man that dense? No, nevermind. Most genius types tended to be.

“Can drop you off on Cherno, if that makes you uncomfortable,” Stacker said. “Give you back some of the fee you paid.”

Dr. Gottlieb looked down, apparently calculating what was a less ideal outcome - space pirates or crazed Russian black market dealers.

“Look,” said Raleigh, making eyes with Herc again while he spoke to Gottlieb. “I get what you’re thinking - isn’t good, Alliance tracking you. Means you didn’t just quit.”

“It wasn’t...exactly...on amicable terms,” Dr. Gottlieb said.

“You got something to worry about?” Stacker asked.

Dr. Gottlieb looked down, sighed. He shook his head. “No,” he said. “An ex-wife, but we aren’t on-”

“Aw, you broke up with Vanessa?” Newt asked. “She was such a babe!”

“Well, it turned out her sympathies were quite different from my own,” Dr. Gottlieb said. “I would say that this tracking device is not an auspicious development on that front, either.”

Stacker looked at Herc - they could communicate, sometimes, with just the tilt of a head or by arching an eyebrow. Like they were in each other’s heads, knew each other’s thoughts. It came when you fought alongside a man. When you were willing to give your life for a cause alongside a man and then followed him to the Outer Rim because you believed in him. Got on some rickety old piece of shit that he insisted was space ready and had named Coyote Tango, of all things.

Herc almost grinned at the memory of the first time that he had seen the ship. Stacker had been beaming. _Can’t take the sky away from us,_ he said, and at the Firefly class vessel. Herc nodded. Stacker’s whole family had been killed in one of the Alliance battles - not even a battle. They’d just decided to decimate New London to make a show of it. The whole town had fought back but they couldn’t match the Alliance weaponry. Stacker had been one of the few survivors.

“Well,” Stacker said, finally. “Not in our interest to have you tracked in our ship, either, so we will take care of that tracking device. Maybe see what the Russians can cook up for you.”

Chuck sighed behind them. Herc shot him a look. Chuck was all about ideology. He’d been young, when Herc had gone off to fight, either living with Angie’s parents or, after she died, in the camp for the other Browncoat families. Chuck really never got to see that it was all about the people - and it was clear to Herc that, even if he was being a bit of a dick, this Dr. Gottlieb needed help.

Not to mention he was always in favor of making sure the Alliance didn’t get what they wanted.

“I appreciate that,” Dr. Gottlieb said.

“We’ll be landing in about four hours,” Herc said. “Maybe get some rest before then.” He looked at Stacker and they both stood. Herc walked by Chuck and grazed his arm. Chuck followed him into the hallway where their cabins were.

“Don’t see why we should help-”

“He’s the same as us,” Herc said. “Trying to start over, out of Alliance control. Took a lot of balls to leave, too. They coulda done a lot more than put a tracking device in his coat.”

Chuck considered this, chewing the inside of his cheek. He had a hard set to his jaw. Not for the first time, Herc thought it might benefit the kid to get laid.

“I just don’t think it’s a good idea,” Chuck said.

“When have we been known for good ideas?” Herc asked. Chuck shook his head.

* * *

Mako knocked on the door, even though Raleigh had told her time and time again that Gipsy was just as much hers as it was his and Yancy’s - she had been the one, after all, to do all of the necessary upgrades on the shuttle to make it compatible with Striker.

Still - it was the brother’s space, very much so. All of Raleigh’s pictures from their adventures, before and after they had left the Academy for the war, were on the far side wall. But it was also the only touch that was really uniquely them. Everything else was standard for Companions, the rich colors of the wall decoration, the tea service that sat on top of one of the dressers, the lavish combination of bedding and pillows on top of the incredibly comfortable mattresses on either side of the shuttle.

Mako remembered when the Beckets had shown up. She had been outside of Coyote, checking over some of the shielding. She had met them a few times during the war when they would come back to camp - but she had been very shy then, still reeling from the death of her parents. Luckily for her Stacker had been there when the fighting in her village had ebbed and had found her amongst the rubble and ruins.

At first she couldn’t believe it was the Beckets. According to Stacker they had just disappeared after the Serenity battle. But there they were with their matching, floppy blonde hair, approaching the vessel with bags slung over their shoulders. She saw Yancy first, in his ridiculous sweater, so bright against the dull colors that dominated the way station and its crews.

She poked her head back into the hull of the shuttle and she positioned herself so that she could still hear.

“Heard you were looking for a tenant for your shuttle.” Stacker looked up from the repair work he was doing himself. He smiled.

“Well,” Stacker said, standing straight. “I would prefer to offer you a position on the crew.”

Raleigh looked at Yancy, pursing his lips slightly. “Uh,” Yancy said, and glanced down for a moment before looking up again. “Thing is, we’d be a little more comfortable on the shuttle-”

She could imagine the look that Stacker was giving them. He had told her that the Beckets had been good soldiers, but unpredictable.

Raleigh coughed. “We’d need the, uh, privacy.”

“Flexibility,” Yancy added. “We’re, uh, Companions?”

“Both of you.” Stacker said. She heard the growl in his voice, the disappointment. Later he would tell her it had concerned him - the Beckets had not come from the best background. They would not have had a traditional entrance to the Academy. Neither had ever revealed how they had managed - even hinted at - it. Not to mention that they must have left, at some point, to fight. And then had gone back.

“Doesn’t mean we still don’t know how to handle a gun, sir,” Raleigh said.

“That’s not-” Stacker said.

“Besides, you take us on,” Yancy said, “we give you a way into places wouldn’t otherwise invite you.” Stacker exhaled. Mako knew they had won, then.

“Oi, Stacker, who are you flappin’ your gums with-” Herc poked his head out of the cargo bay. “Lads.”

“Hello, sir,” Yancy said, and Raleigh gave a little bit of a wider smile and saluted.

“Boys were inquiring about -”

“What, and you haven’t said yes yet?” Herc asked, rubbing his hands on his pants and heading towards Stacker and the Beckets.

“-the shuttle. They’re companions,” Stacker finished.

Herc paused, for a moment, then shrugged his shoulders. “Yeah, well, we all find different ways to eat, don’t we? You’re going to charge them rent, right, because they’re about to be our way to eat.” He grinned at both of them. Stacker had sighed again.

Mako still was not sure how she felt about the whole thing - and she had agreed with Chuck, with what he said about how they now served some of the people they used to fight. But she also knew that she was not in a position to judge.

Mako focused her thoughts. It was hard not to smile at the two of them curled up in the shuttle - which probably had more pillows per square foot than anywhere in the Verse.

Yancy was lounging in one of the amorphous stuffed chairs - for sex, Mako had to remind herself, amorphous and stuffed for sexual positions - and reading a book. Raleigh was at the table, on his tablet, but he had wine in a glass alongside him. “I got out the white because I knew you were coming,” he said.

“Ray, that is not some Nostradamus level shit,” Yancy said, without looking up. “Mako comes most evenings when the engine isn’t blowing up. You did check on that, right? Engine isn’t blowing up?” Yancy had never quite recovered from that one time, when Chuck had dodged a Reaver ship with some very creative techniques.

“I did,” Mako said. “It will not explode tonight.”

“Besides, bro, we’ve got a shuttle,” Raleigh said. “Enough to make it to the nearest moon, call on the Guild to rescue us. That’s what union membership gets you.”

Yancy rolled his eyes. Raleigh smiled - Mako couldn’t help but recognize something sad there - and poured a glass of wine for Mako.

“So, how did you find that little tattooed scientist, anyway?” Raleigh asked.

“He just walked by,” Mako said. “He seemed to be friendly. If a little over caffeinated.” She took a sip of the wine and made a slight face.

“It’s not from the client stock, sorry,” Raleigh said.

“You do not need to apologize,” Mako replied. “There is the pleasure business and then...friendship. Besides it is better than what we have in the kitchen.”

“Oh, yeah, well, that was Lau’s home vintage, wasn’t it?” Yancy asked. He pulled a wine glass from seemingly out of nowhere and held it out to Raleigh, who filled it almost to the brim. Mako grinned when she realized that Yancy wasn’t wearing a robe but instead what appeared to be a lavender smoking jacket. “This is a little sweet.”

“And you don’t think it’s weird that your da-Stacker turned up with a weird little scientist as well?” Raleigh asked. “Who just happens to have an Alliance trace?”

Mako shrugged her shoulders. She had considered this. “There are many people looking for passage on Horizon Brave,” she replied. “Many people looking for many things. It is what it is for.”

“They know each other, though,” Yancy said. “I mean, some things are coincidences-”

“Your whore senses are tingling?” Raleigh asked. Yancy laughed and Mako shook her head.

“You should not-”

“Well, Chuck started it,” Raleigh said.

“Chuck starts everything,” Mako replied. “It is not a justification.”

She remembered when Chuck and Raleigh had got into a fist fight in the middle of a job, after Chuck had called her a bitch because she had tripped up. Mako had got caught in a memory - of gunfire, people shouting, explosions all around her, and her mother’s hand slipping...it was only because Raleigh had put his hands on her shoulder and looked her directly in the eye that she had recovered. _Mako, it isn’t real,_ he said. _I’m real, Mako. Focus on me._ Even with the intervention, though, they had fallen outside of the necessary time frame for the robbery and had to improvise quite a bit. It caused them to almost miss a critical liaison with Stacker and Herc, who definitely needed the back-up.

No sooner had the word come out of his mouth that Raleigh pummeled Chuck until Yancy had pulled them apart.

“That is around when the whore thing started, isn’t it?” she asked. Two months ago - had it really been that long? One thing she did not like about living on a spaceship was how you would lose track of days and weeks.

Raleigh knew what she was referencing without her having to make the connection. “Probably.”

“Chuck’s an idiot,” said Yancy. He had drank nearly half of his wine.“Damn good pilot though.”

“Very good pilot,” Mako said. There were several times that they could have - perhaps even should have - died, were it not for Chuck. “Perhaps not the best person, though.” Raleigh and Yancy nodded at this, but they all did so with the understanding of Chuck’s circumstances - he had been stuck at those Browncoat towns, unable to fight on the frontlines with his dad. Herc had been the only person he had left, then, and he hit the age to join just after Serenity. Mako understood his anger. She had wanted to go to battle, as well, to avenge her family. Stacker had refused both of them.

She was glad for it.

“Back to Ren and Stimpy,” Yancy said. Raleigh and Mako both stared blankly at him. “It’s an old cartoon, from the Earth that Was...really?”

“I can’t believe you got something like that in, between all the naps,” Raleigh said. Yancy narrowed his eyes.

“I want to figure out what is up with them,” Yancy said.

“Doesn’t mean they won’t still be trouble,” Raleigh replied. Mako nodded.

They were most certainly going to be trouble.

* * *

Cherno Alpha was a small moon in the shadow of a larger one. The terraforming had not been an easy process, but some determined engineers had eventually managed to scrape a rough patch out of the rock. It kept too many people from taking an interest in it, making it exactly the sort of place that called to people like the Kaidanovskys.

Herc had to give them credit. For all of the black market trading, they also managed to have a nice little settlement.

“Comrade,” Sasha said, greeting them from the platform near the three plane landing dock. “So nice to see you.” Her was accent thick and mostly for show. She had her hands in a large, fur lined military jacket. Actually, most of what the Russians did was performance - the bleached blonde hair, the gold rings, the jackets that mimicked twentieth century styles from the Earth That Was. “Is good to see you, Stacker.”

Stacker nodded. “Got two passengers,” he said. “Dr. Gottlieb, Dr. Geiszler - he should have got in touch with you?” Sasha liked full disclosure.

“Two doctors. Fancy,” she replied. “Let’s get vodka - has been long time. And get your Geiszler - we do have business.”

Herc glanced at Stacker, then held back. Would be less conspicuous, he supposed, if he waited. Chuck huffed next to him. “You want a proper meal?” he asked, then caught Dr. Gottlieb looking awkward in the cargo bay, dressed like a typical professor in a sweater and drooping slacks. Emphasized how small he was, and the cane didn’t help the overall picture. “You look like you could use one, Doctor.”

He looked surprised. Herc recognized a man who had built a solid barbed barrier around himself.

Wasn’t just a nice offer, though. Herc had to figure out what they were going to do with him.

“All right,” he said. “I am, after all, not familiar with this place in the least.”

“Kira makes a damn good roast,” Herc said. “Just right over in town, too. Got about one thousand people here, productive, decent place, really.”

“If you like all the Russian shit,” Chuck groused, walking after Herc.

“Well,” Herc said. “We live in a spaceship.” Chuck tugged at Max and shrugged his shoulders. Herc wondered if he remembered Cydney at all.

They had left the planet when Chuck was twelve. Deep blue waters, beaches that never ended and lots of thick greenery, hot balmy heat that just enveloped you - Angela had loved that, of course. Not Herc’s favorite, being as pale as he was. But at least he had her to apply sunscreen when he needed it. Every hour, pretty much. They were there by the grace of her parents and their money. Soon as she’d passed, well, they’d shown their true colors. Didn’t even want their only grandson.

“Oi, old man, don’t we need to turn left there?” Chuck asked. Herc nodded and sighed - not that Chuck would have been better off with them. Far from it.

It was off peak hours, so they were able to take a dark corner for themselves. Kira delivered pints of thick beer and shots of vodka without even being prompted. “You good with red meat?” she asked, and Herc nodded. He held his shot up.

“To Striker,” he said.

“To your ship,” Chuck said. Dr. Gottlieb raised his eyebrow at that and completed his shot silently.

“Your ship?” he said. Herc closed his eyes and inhaled - not sure what Chuck wanted to accomplish with that. Probably let Gottlieb know Herc had some real authority, but Herc didn’t really think that was an issue.

“Well, this wasn’t our first ship,” Herc said. He thought of Coyote’s rust red coloring and thick shape. Stacker sure knew how to pick them. “Technically, I bought this one. So.” Angela had left him with enough for that, at least, and he’d always wanted to spend it on something good for Chuck. Nice place of land to settle down on - but after the whole Scunner misunderstanding and Alliance battle, well, it did seem better to be portable. And at least this was a Mark-V space ship. Worth investing in.

“Then why aren’t you Captain?” Dr. Gottlieb asked.

Herc shrugged his shoulders. “Not really the Captain type,” Herc replied. “Stacker was my commanding officer in the war...so.” Chuck watched him with interest. _Brat,_ Herc thought.

“What happened to the first ship?” Dr. Gottlieb asked.

“Oh,” Herc said. “It sort of blew up.”

“Is that why you get to have the dog, then?” Dr. Gottlieb asked. Chuck nodded him.

“Really are a genius, aren’t you, doc?” Chuck asked. Dr. Gottlieb considered both of them and sipped at his beer, clearly judgmental. Max grunted from under his feet.

“Well,” he said, “I presume you’ve found a way to dispose of my coat.”

“Put the whores on it,” Chuck said.

Herc set his beer glass down, a little louder than he would have liked. “Will you quit calling them that? Being a companion is a...profession. Not to mention all the other help we get-” He met Chuck’s eyes and then he sighed, because there was something mixed with his anger and...Herc had a guess what it was, but hoped he was wrong. The whole whores thing had been a recent development - right around when Raleigh had kicked the shit out of him, actually, and it would figure.

“Sure, old man,” Chuck said. Then the food came, at least, so Herc could just huff and stop talking about it for a little bit.

When they were done eating, Herc turned to Gottlieb. “Way I see it,” he said, “you got two options. Alliance knows you landed here.” Gottlieb nodded at this. “So we can either book you on the next transport out of here, or we don’t.”

Gottlieb blinked at him. “I don’t believe I understand-” Chuck rolled his eyes and Herc kicked him under the table.

“We put your name on the next transport register for somewhere nice and close, and you don’t go on that ship. Stay with us until we can drop you off somewhere more hospitable. Or we don’t put your name on that register and you do go on that ship.”

“Ah,” said Dr. Gottlieb. “I see. Well.” He sipped at his beer, frowned, and then looked at Herc and Chuck. “I believe there is an expression, the devil you know is preferable to the one that you do not.”

“I don’t think that’s exactly how it goes,” Chuck replied. He picked at a piece of his leftovers and then slipped it under the table to Max.

* * *

“Oh no,” said Sasha, when Newt finally came out of the ship to come with her. “You are Dr. Geiszler?”

“You are Newt,” said Aleksis. Stacker inhaled, because for some reason - some reason he knew he wasn’t going to like - that name sounded familiar, now that he heard it coming from Aleksis’ mouth. Dr. Geiszler looked up at Stacker like a guilty child.

Sasha just shook her head. “You know who he is?” she asked Stacker. She was grinning. This was not a good sign. “We have much to talk about, then.”

Stacker resisted the urge to punch Geiszler in the arm as they walked further into Sasha and Aleksis’ den of crime and inequity - office just was not the right term, what with the massive crimelord style chairs and machetes on the wall. Geiszler moved to immediately sit on one of the couches facing the chairs, and Stacker took the opportunity to actually smack at him lightly.

“Please,” Sasha said, after she and Aleksis managed to get into their chairs. “Sit.” Stacker nodded at Geiszler. Sasha snapped her fingers and a younger girl appeared from the shadows - all good crime dens had to have shadows where you could hide your minions. “Vodka,” she said.

They each took a shot together, and then Aleksis laughed. “You do not hear about the bounty Chau has out for him?” he asked Stacker.

Stacker pulled out his tablet and began to type to Tendo - He honestly hadn’t thought that either of their passengers warranted investigation - he was getting too trusting, in his own age. And Geiszler and Gottlieb had both looked pathetic enough.

For good reason.

“OK, that is not exactly fair,” Geiszler said. “He was the one who screwed me over! I delivered on my contract, made him a literal shit ton of that kaiju blue stuff - and, no it’s not an actual unit of measurement, nor was it an actual ton, so, uh...I did what he wanted! And he still put a bounty on my head.”

“Would seem so,” said Sasha. She shrugged.

Aleksis looked over at her and smiled. “Would seem you piss him off somehow, little man.”

“To be fair, does not take much,” said Sasha. “Maybe you talk too much.” She and Aleksis chuckled. Stacker had a feeling this was directed more at him than at Geiszler. He closed his eyes and sighed.

“Oh, no, no, you’re not thinking of...collecting on it, are you?” Newt asked Stacker, when he finally opened his eyes.

“No,” Stacker said. “Well. How much of a bounty are we talking about?” Geiszler looked up at him with wide, frightened eyes. “No,” he said. “I was just curious.”

“Not worth it, really, to track him down,” said Sasha. “But...he fall into your lap...or laps…” Newt looked at the two Russians with the same expression.

“I have actual money to pay you with, for what I asked for-”

“Money you get from Chau?” Aleksis asked. Stacker understood their reluctance - no one really wanted to get tangled up with Hannibal Chau, even if the money was only one degree removed from him. And that was before there were bounties involved.

“Hey, look, I was kidnapped!” Newt protested. Stacker glanced him over quickly and would believe it. What Chau wanted, Chau got. He knew - he had a lot of history with him. So did Sasha and Aleksis. They were either being sadistic because it had been a boring few months on Cherno Alpha or they were negotiating with him in one of their perverse ways.

“Sasha, Aleksis,” Stacker said. “We go a long way back. Why I came to you first, with our cargo. But I could sell it to the Weis.”

Sasha gasped, mock offended. “You would ruin long standing relationship, going to those little shits? Stanya.” She almost cooed the last part, and Aleksis grunted.

“They’re not really little shits anymore,” Stacker said. “Got their own moon now, I hear-”

“More like asteroid,” said Aleksis.

“We jest,” Sasha said. “It is not like we want Chau anywhere near Cherno.” She glanced at Geiszler. “Which means you get him off of here.”

“Now-” Stacker began.

“You bring him, you deal with him,” Aleksis said. Stacker exhaled through his nose.

“Bring goods this evening,” Sasha said. “And you - no deal with you. Not until Chau off your scent.”

“But-” Newt said.

“Thank you,” Stacker said. He grabbed at the collar of Geiszler’s leather jacket and hauled him up.

“Maybe,” Sasha said, as he walked out, “you have one of the Beckets bring by - ouch! Husband, I can look…” She more than looked - they both did - and everyone knew that.

Stacker walked out - he hoped that Herc had hammered things out with Gottlieb, because he did not need all this shit. You try and take on reputable passengers - two scientists! - and this is where it gets you. “Well, that was a close call, wasn’t it? Thanks for that, man, Chau would probably flay my balls-”

“Oh, you think you’re in the clear?” Stacker asked. “Besides, Chau will flay all of you and you’ll be lucky if he kills you first.”

“Wait, they said they weren’t going to-”

“They said they didn’t want Chau to set foot on Cherno,” Stacker said. “They said nothing about telling Chau exactly where you were once we were clear of orbit.” Stacker didn’t think it was likely the Kaidanovsky’s would do that, given their longstanding relationship and the good price he was giving them on the food rations. But you never knew - and who knew what that bounty was?

“Oh,” said Newt. He looked at Stacker and grimaced. “Well, we could, ah...stay here?”

“If you want your friend Dr. Gottlieb picked up by the Alliance,” Stacker said.

“Oh yeah,” Newt said. “Well. This is sort of a pickle, isn’t it?” He laughed and ran his hands through his hair.


	2. Chapter 2

“You know,” Yancy said, one of his fuzzy slippers draping down off of the catwalk and almost into Tendo’s face, “things had been a little too quiet, lately.” Tendo swatted at his foot and Yancy rubbed it onto his forehead, tickling him.

“Goddamnit, Becket Boy,” he said. “Weren’t you supposed to be getting rid of that tracking device, anyway?”

“Tendo,” Yancy said and pulled his leg up. “You really think, Raleigh and I, we need more than a few hours to handle that shit?” Tendo looked up at him. “Turns out there was another ship just about to leave here...and guess for where?” He grinned at Tendo.

“Well,” Tendo said, turning his attention back to his tablet. “Shit - that is a bounty.”

This led Yancy to sit up and then drop down next to Tendo. “How much?”

“Quarter million credits,” Tendo said. Yancy whistled.

“Well, damn,” he said. “Wonder what he got his hands into.”

“Stacker said he said he made something for him - kaiju blue?”

“Aw, fuck,” Yancy said, and his lip actually curled. He shook his head. “Chau’s been trafficking that shit - says it’s an aphrodisiac, you know, for limp dick’s like yourself-” Tendo smacked at him, then had to rub his hand against Yancy’s incredibly soft bathrobe. It felt like it was made out of puppies. “It’s addictive, though - of course it is, if Chau’s involved. We’ve had to refuse one or two old clients who use, Companion’s Guild won’t let us-”

“Since when do you care about what their regs are?” Tendo asked.

“Aiding your friends in their various endeavors is completely different,” Yancy said, and Tendo grinned at him. Tendo typed back the news to Stacker. “You know Stacker isn’t going to let us just toss that guy to Chau.”

“Yeah,” Tendo said. “And even if you’ve momentarily solved the other scientist problem, he’s still got-”

“They looked so...innocent, you know, all small and genius-y?” Yancy sighed and then turned, hearing the door open to the front section of the ship before Tendo did. “Sir?”

“Raleigh briefed me on Gottlieb,” Stacker said. “Herc talked to him. He’s gonna come with us to where we head next. This one is the bigger problem.”

“Oh, hey,” Yancy said, and Tendo knew that feral smile of his was creeping up his face. “What’s this I hear about you mixing up some kaiju blue for Mr. Chau?”

“He held a goddamn gun to my head!” Geiszler said. “I didn’t even know - I was just eating my soup, one day, and then I’ve got a bag over my head and he said if I made it for him, he would let me go!”

“He didn’t actually let you go, though, did he?” Tendo asked.

“Well, I figured, you know, I fulfilled my obligation, so-” Geiszler winced. “Look, I’m sorry, but I didn’t know what else to do I had to get off that planet people were starting to look at me funny and I knew-”

“Well, he’s not immediately on his trail,” Tendo said to Stacker. “And we didn’t enter him on any passenger registers, so, we’ve got some time. But you’re going to need to get your shit in order.”

“We’ll talk about this when Chuck and Herc get back,” Stacker said.

Talking about it turned into shouting about it - well, primarily shouting about it. Tendo wasn’t really big on shouting, but he was big on not having Hannibal Chau after them. “Look, he’s perfectly happy getting deposited on Caliban, so what’s your damage?” Chuck asked Newt.

“Oh, no, I am not getting _deposited_ anywhere near someone that some thug has a bounty on-” Gottlieb said.

“Dude! Alliance!” Geiszler shouted. “They’re tracking you, it’s not like you’re all-”

Stacker finally pounded his fist on the table. “Becket-”

“Which one?” Raleigh asked.

“Play fucking rock paper scissors,” Stacker said. “And then one of you is going to take those sweaters over to the Kaidanovsky’s-”

“They’re buying sweaters from you?” Newt asked.

“It is a code for something, Dr. Geiszler!” Hermann said. _Oh, fuck, they’re a regular comedy act,_ Tendo thought, and yet another reason they would be better off getting them far, far away from their little ship. The acoustics were just not designed for this sort of thing.

“I’ll do it,” Yancy said. “Haven’t seen good old Sasha and Aleksis in awhile - or, are we leaving tonight?”

“Tonight,” Chuck said, and crossed his arms.

“Whoa, someone put their cranky pants on this morning,” Yancy replied. Chuck made a low, growling sound. Tendo always tried to remember how rough the kid had it - mom died when he was eleven, got dragged off to some war camp while his father left to fight and then onto a some cramped ship where his father and the Captain refused to consummate their marriage.

“Don’t be late,” Herc and Mako said in unison, and Yancy rolled his eyes and shook his head at them as he headed off.

“And put your shoes on,” Raleigh added. Yancy looked down at his slippers and then nodded at Raleigh.

Gottlieb looked fairly concerned, watching Yancy wander off. Tendo knew the feeling - he remembered when he had first taken a job fixing Coyote Tango’s code and had nearly screamed when he found Yancy sleeping in the duct where the computer hub was kept. _Oh, hey,_ Yancy said. _I was trying to fix that. Looks like they brought a pro in. My man._ He held out his hand for a fistbump.

 _Oh,_ said Raleigh, crowding in behind Tendo and sticking his head in. _So that’s where you were._

Then, three days later, Tendo had watched the Becket’s take down a crew on Hyperion with brutal efficiency. The rest of the crew and Tendo had been captured and literally tied up - Tendo, actually, wasn’t even part of the crew at that point. Then the Beckets had come in, completely synced with one another as they moved through the collection of thugs.

Tendo had waited until they were rescued to laugh at how Raleigh felt the need to announce all of their moves, though, like he was some kind of magical girl. _Yancy! I’m shooting him in the thigh! Get him against the wall! I will put the gun to his head! Yeah! Got him!_

 _We learned real quick not to send him on covert missions_ Stacker said, as Raleigh helped him limp back to the ship.

“Good,” Stacker said, once Yancy left. “When he gets back, we are headed for Caliban - as Herc agreed with Dr. Gottlieb - and you will be getting off there as well, Dr. Geiszler. Now, I know you both paid to get to Zephyr, so we’ll give you half your fee back.”

“Half?” Geiszler demanded, and it was sort of cute, to see him make a fist when he was probably the smallest person in the room. “I contracted for Zephyr, and you’re not fulfilling that contract, so I should get a full refund-”

“You did not provide full disclosure,” Mako said. “I ask if there is anything I need to know, and you smiled at me and said no. Bounty on your head - that is something to know.” She crossed her arms. Tendo grinned - he loved how Mako, when she wanted, could be more terrifying in a quiet way. “Lucky to get half. My father is most reasonable.”

“Right,” Geiszler said. “OK. Caliban. Great. I’ll just figure out how not to get killed-”

“Honestly, Dr. Geiszler, just because they agreed to transport you does not suddenly make this their problem,” Dr. Gottlieb said, with a sigh. “It is most unfortunate you were kidnapped by some drug lord, but if you had not left your post with the University-”

“Those fascists - well, you know, now don’t you, Hermann? You couldn’t stay, either, even with some-” Tendo stood up, because these two obviously needed some time to themselves. He grinned as everyone else followed and their two passengers didn’t even seem to notice.

* * *

“I don’t want to stay here long,” Stacker said. “And you all picked up what you needed on Hyperion, before we picked up the passengers?”

“Could get some more whiskey,” Herc said - in the last twenty-four hours, supplies had dwindled.

“We might need to invest in some, uh, better security...stuff,” Tendo said.

“Security...stuff?” Chuck asked.

“Very technical security stuff,” Tendo replied.

“In the very least we will need to purchase a new scrambler,” Mako said. “After we tapped into the Alliance tracking device-”

“Don’t make them explain the nerd things,” Raleigh said.

“I can understand-” Chuck began.

“Come on,” Raleigh said. “We can go and do...man things.” There was still a scowl on Chuck’s face - not that Herc blamed him, Raleigh occasionally sounded like Yancy, and it was eerie. But there was also something else in his expression. _Well, all right,_ Herc thought, _maybe he just wants to be included along with the boys._ They were pretty much the same age, and Chuck always had a hard time making friends. He’d been such an intense kid - and far too smart for his age. Always put the other kids off.

Herc headed towards the small trading post on Cherno Alpha. He was going to get the good stuff, this time, even if they had just taken a hit on transportation fees. Not that they needed that for fuel, or anything, at this point - the accounts, according to Tendo, were quite good - but you never knew what the future held.

In retrospect, it was probably too easy to convince the shopkeep he needed to taste test a couple of the whiskeys. Or something had been too easy, and he should have completely expected the scene that greeted him when he returned to Striker with a large bottle of whiskey and a complimentary bottle of gooseberry infused vodka.

“What in the hell?” he asked, as Chuck and Raleigh carried Tendo into the cargo hold and towards the medical bay while Yancy restrained a dark-haired man. He was frothing at the mouth a bit and looked a bit familiar.

“He shot Tendo!” Yancy said. Where the hell was Stacker?

“He fucked my girlfriend!” said the man, and Herc remembered who he was - the lovely Allison’s boyfriend who had run them off of Nautilus that one time. Herc sighed.

“And you shot him,” Herc said. “So that’s about right, wouldn’t you say?”

“We will need a doctor,” Mako said. Herc could see her calculating the costs in her head and working out the schematics. Striker had come with a medical bay they could bring a doctor to, but Tendo could require surgery and aftercare, which meant they were going to be stuck here for at least-

“Uh, I’m a doctor.” Geiszler emerged from the crowd, pulling his sleeves up and looking at Herc.

“Why haven’t you gone yet?” Chuck asked.

“I was just about to when someone started yelling about a shooting and I figured, hey, I’m a doctor-”

“You’re a doctor and a biochemist?” Herc asked. No, he would be. He glanced over at Mako, who nodded her head. Stacker wasn’t going to like this, but it was a better option than having to remain on Cherno and pay their surgeon. “Fine, fine, get in here,” he said. “We’ll dump you off somewhere else.”

Geiszler looked palpably relieved, and Herc pointed him into the cargo hold and then followed him as Mako trailed behind. Yancy and Raleigh carried Tendo in and towards the medical bay. He and Mako secured the hold. “I told him that it was not a good idea to be involved with a woman who…” Mako said.

Herc nodded his head. “Where’d he shoot him?”

“Stomach,” said Mako. “Not good aim. Or did not mean to kill…”

They walked together to the infirmary. Chuck was there, presumably having been waiting inside the ship for everyone to get their shit together and get ready to leave. “Fucking hell,” he said.

“What’s going on?” Herc asked. Newt had cut Tendo’s shirt off - and he wasn’t going to like it, it was his favorite shirt - and some of his tattoos were visible. Looked like he’d added to his collection surreptitiously.

“He’ll need surgery - minor surgery, but you’re equipped for that, which is good, uh-”

“No, not good,” said Mako. She made eye contact with Tendo, who nodded. “We will need to prepare the computer for the installation of the scrambler-”

“You can’t do that?” Chuck asked. “You’re a mechanical-”

“Tendo has his own peculiar coding,” Mako replied. She narrowed her eyes at Tendo and then spoke in Mandarin, “I told it was a bad idea!”

“Are we going to argue about this when I’m shot?” Tendo asked.

“Yes,” said Mako. “It would seem to be an appropriate moment, given-”

“Hey,” said Yancy, from the back of the group, “wasn’t that other little guy a computer programmer?”

“Biophysicist and engineer of some sort,” Herc replied.

“Well, maybe he was,” Raleigh said. “I could go and check - we put a tracking device in his cane.”

“Why?” asked Herc.

“Never know,” Yancy said.

“He’s excellent at programming,” Geiszler said, smiling slightly. “He did a lot of the protocols for some of the programs that we used-”

“Great, we’ll go and get him,” said Raleigh, and he smiled at Mako, who smiled back at him. Herc closed his eyes for a moment and then inhaled. Mako was a genius, after all, and while he had no doubt that Tendo was quite skilled at what he does - they wouldn’t have him on the ship, otherwise, since he had nothing to contribute to the general criminal efforts otherwise - he was fairly sure Mako could decipher what he was up to in Striker’s coding just as fast as Gottlieb could.

“All right, then,” Herc said. Where the hell was Stacker, anyway?

* * *

“I have some news for you,” Stacker said, when Herc met him in the cargo bay.

“Yeah, well-”

“Kaidanovsky’s want us to head over to Crimson - they just found one of their traders dropped off a nasty case of the circan’s flu and the Wei’s are the only ones who’ve got vaccines and supplies. Course, they won’t trade with-”

“Tendo got shot,” Herc interrupted. It was a rare monologue for Stacker, too. The most he had heard the man speak in some time.

“What?” Stacker asked.

“Little guy, though, Geiszler, he’s a doctor, so he’s stitching him up,” Herc said. He scratched at the back of his neck. “And...since Tendo got shot, Mako needed some help with the computers - but the other little guy with the cane knows that, so he’s helping her.”

“I walked him over to the ship next to us to get a ride,” Stacker said. He sighed.

“Yeah, well, Beckets put a tracer in his cane,” Herc said. Stacker considered this and then nodded his head.

“Good forethought,” he said. “Probably Yancy.”

“Well…” Herc said.

“So,” Stacker said. “We need to get to Crimson.”

“Need?” Herc asked. Stacker sighed.

“Kaidanovsky’s...well, they’re Sasha and Aleksis,” Stacker said. “Even if they would never try and collect a bounty from Chau they’re going to take the opportunity to hold it over our heads to get what they need. And...soon, before they all get sick.”

“Right,” said Herc. “Well, Geiszler’s still in Tendo’s guts...and we can’t take off until Gottlieb gets the computer running, anyway, but-”

“Probably should keep the doctor around,” said Yancy, from the catwalk. “Could have complications.” Stacker glanced up at Yancy, who had changed back into that damn fluffy robe and slippers of his. “Computer could, too. While Tendo’s all stoned.”

“Goddamnit,” said Stacker.

“Is that what you were out doing, talking to Kaidanovsky’s?” Herc asked.

Stacker looked at Herc and shook his head. “Mako’s birthday, coming-”

“Oh,” Herc said. “So, what, you get her a new tool kit?”

“Yeah,” Stacker said. He pressed his lips together. “Think she’ll like it?”

“You’re beyond hope,” Yancy said, and then turned and walked back into the ship.

* * *

“Well, he should, ah, make a full recovery,” Geiszler said, standing outside of their small medical room and facing the rest of the crew and Gottlieb. “Had to, um, pull it out, but no lasting damage, that sort of thing…”

“How long has it been since you cut someone open?” Raleigh asked.

“Actually, that is what I have been getting by on,” Geiszler said, and crossed his arms. “So. He’ll be fine. Will need to take some precautionary antibiotics, but-”

“You should be pleased,” said Gottlieb. “His programming was actually quite sophisticated.” Stacker arched an eyebrow at that, not entirely sure he believed it or if Gottlieb was just attempting to actually be pleasant for a change. It didn’t really matter - and it was just like how they had acquired Tendo. One day you bring someone onto your ship, the next thing you know someone gets kidnapped or shot and they take up residence.

And, besides, they did have the room.

“Beckets, you’re on for dinner tonight,” Stacker said. He watched as they walked into the kitchen and then followed them.

“Uh oh, Rals, what did you do?” Yancy asked, and rolled up a dish towel and smacked Raleigh in the ass with it. Raleigh yelped. Not for the first time, Stacker wondered...he shook his head. They paid their rent, and then some, and were good lads. They had no one else.

“You don’t think Mako would appreciate a new tool box?” Stacker asked, leaning against the cupboard. As though he had these conversations every day.

“Oh, she’ll appreciate it,” Yancy said, while Raleigh’s eyebrows raised at the mention of Mako, his platonic life mate. “But...she’s twenty-one years old.”

“Yes,” Stacker said. He was aware of how old Mako was.

“And a young woman,” Raleigh said. Stacker immediately scowled at him - he did not need the Becket brothers thinking about… “So maybe she might like something-”

“She isn’t very…” Stacker began. Mako primarily wore coveralls or cargo pants that she could carry her tools in. Even when they were on a planet for some time she still preferred khaki pants and jackets.

“It’s just, you know, maybe she wants to be recognized as more than the mechanic girl, is all,” Raleigh said.

“Which isn’t to say you weren’t spot on with the present,” Yancy added.

“Especially being her dad,” Raleigh said.

“Maybe someone else should be encouraged to get her something a little different,” Yancy concluded.

Stacker always got the beginning of a headache when they interacted with each other like that - as though the two of them shared a brain. “Maybe that could be one of you,” he said. Then he realized what they were saying and he felt himself grow slightly hot - did someone on his crew _like_ Mako? It was Choi, that bastard, and-

Raleigh and Yancy started laughing at him, and Stacker smiled back. “All right,” he said.

* * *

“So here’s the thing,” Herc said as he and Stacker checked over their munitions and other weaponry. “Part of me wonders if those two aren’t in league.”

“The scientists?” Stacker asked.

Herc nodded. “I mean, it’s either an awful coincidence...or meant to look like an awful coincidence so we don’t ask any questions.”

Stacker nodded. It seemed he had been mulling over the same thing - of course he would, Stacker wasn’t stupid. Herc just sort of felt it needed verbalizing. He leaned in front of Stacker to grab a gun, careful, but he still brushed against Stacker. He pulled up and gave Stacker a tight smile, surprised that he met his eyes. Then he looked away.

Herc sighed - he just couldn’t shake it. While the scientists had stories that made sense, they sniped at each other like they were old friends - certainly like it had been less than three years since they had seen one another. They bickered like he and Angela used to.

“Divide and conquer,” Stacker said. “Even if they’re working for someone…well, I trust the Kaidanovsky’s. Tendo confirmed the bounty, too.”

“Doesn’t mean he’s still not working for Chau,” Herc replied. He sneered, remembering how the bastard had descended on the remains of Coyote Tango before they had been able to get most of their possessions out. The salvage operator had overwhelmed him with his superior fire and manpower, and Herc and Stacker had both recognized that it wasn’t worth the fight.

“No, it doesn’t,” Stacker said.

* * *

Tendo woke up.

Tendo hurt. “Oh, fuck,” he said, and looked around the medical bay. How many jobs had he been on, and he’d been just fine? “Hello?”

“Oh, hey there, Tendo! My man!” The door to the medical bay opened and Geiszler grinned at him.

“No, no, we got rid of you,” Tendo said. “And I am not your man-”

“I am a doctor!” Geiszler replied, and Tendo made a slight groaning sound. “I fixed you.”

“Oh, hey, Tendo,” said Raleigh, poking his head in. “If you’re talking to the doc I can just-”

“He’s not the doc,” Tendo said. “Are we in the air? It feels like we’re in the air-”

“Might be,” Raleigh said. Tendo’s mouth gaped. “Gottlieb knows some programming, so he and Mako-”

“They fiddled with my - the other guy?” Tendo asked.

“You want some morphine, dude?” Geiszler asked, and Tendo nodded his head. Maybe Geiszler wasn’t all bad.

* * *

“Chuuuuck…”

Chuck sighed and closed his eyes as he finished punching in the coordinates for Crimson. He double checked to make sure that there weren’t any flight plans intersecting with theirs and then turned towards Raleigh’s voice.

“Chuuuuuuuuuuck…”

Part of him was tempted to see how long Raleigh would be able to draw that out without losing his breath. Another part of him did not want to know because of the implications. “Oi!” he called. “What the fuck do you need, Becket?”

Raleigh poked his head up, half entering the cockpit through the stairway shaft. Chuck’s cockpit. Max picked his head up from his bed and squeaked his stuffed stegosaurus. “Oh, hey, Chuck,” said Raleigh. Chuck sighed. Raleigh did all of this purposefully. Raleigh was, from what Chuck understood, the ultimate little brother and had a highly refined ability to annoy. He would have had to, to actually get a rise out of Yancy. “Did you want help with dinner tonight?”

“You were wailing at me to ask-”

“Thought I’d be nice,” Raleigh said. He gave a theatrical pout. “Plus you got to make something special for Tendo, eh? Since he got shot in the gut and all.”

“Just put it in the blender,” Chuck said. He double checked their course. For all that everyone went on about him being a rubbish cook, they sure made him do it a lot.

“You get shot in the gut, you want us to do that to you?” Raleigh asked.

“I’d want you to give me the good drugs,” Chuck said. “C’mon, Max. Time to eat.”

Max immediately perked up and bounded over to Raleigh, almost hopping. He licked Raleigh’s face and Raleigh laughed, then squished his wrinkles together and kissed him right on the mouth. “There’s my handsome buddy,” Raleigh said.

“Better stop there, Max, or he might start charging,” Chuck said. Raleigh immediately frowned and Chuck grinned.

“Yance is already chopping up some stuff,” Raleigh replied, then darted back down the stairs. Max whined.

“Yeah, well, it’s true,” Chuck said. Max turned and looked at him, apparently wanting to go with Raleigh. Chuck scooped him up and carried him down the ladder into the living space.

* * *

Crimson Typhoon was small, and only roughly terraformed - and seriously, Herc thought, what the fuck? Sure, people liked to name moons after they took possession, but really? Crimson Typhoon sounded like the name of some street fighting organization in the movies from the Earth That Was.

They found a patch to settle Striker down on and, as soon as Chuck and Yancy made sure the ship was secure, Herc checked to make sure everyone was armed. “I thought you traded with these Weis regularly?” Gottlieb asked, suspiciously eyeing the gun that Herc thrust at him. Not that Gottlieb would know how to shoot the thing, but it always helped to have another body waving a gun in someone’s face. Or that was what Herc was going to tell himself.

“Yes, but they’re…” Stacker glanced over at Herc.

“Unreliable,” Herc replied.

“They’re triplets,” Chuck said. “They’ll use it to trick you.”

“Yes they will,” said Yancy, and he had an expression on his face that...Herc shook his head. Both of the Beckets were lucky that they had one another, because they likely never would have survived in the wild on their own.

“You really want me to be part of this show of force?” Gottlieb asked. He glanced back towards the shuttle.

“Why not?” Chuck said, and before he could say something else about the Beckets, Mako elbowed him in the ribs. Chuck frowned and glared at her.

“Now,” said Stacker, and then he turned and grinned at Herc. “You brought out Vera?”

“Yeah,” Herc said. “Well. She puts on a good show, you know?” He grinned at Stacker, who nodded his head. “You were saying, Captain?”

“Now, the Weis are kids, but they’re smart. So just let me do the negotiating, yes? Mako, you all right holding things down with Geiszler?”

“I believe I am capable,” she replied. She had several guns with her and had armed the ship’s security system. Crimson was small enough that they wouldn’t be far from her, if anything happened - and Herc doubted, after the retribution they got on the assholes that blew up Coyote, that anyone would really try anything with them. Still. He couldn’t help but have a nagging feeling that something was about to go wrong.

The settlement at the center of the moon was fairly - well, ramshackle wasn’t quite the right word, but it was definitely pieced together out of whatever people could find and looked like it was held together with hope and some strong duct tape. Herc shook his head, couldn’t imagine who would decide, out of all the moons, to live here.

A few people poked their heads out of their homes and businesses - usually combined, it seemed - as they walked by, but overall there weren’t too many signs of live. No doubt people had battened down once the ship had landed in one of the vacant dirt fields outside of town.

“And just what do you think you are doing here, Stacker Pentecost?” spit one of the Weis, stepping out in front of them. He was wearing a bright red track suit. Herc pressed his lips together to keep from laughing. Another one of the brothers muttered something Herc didn’t quite catch, and he inclined his head to be able to hear better.

“He said that we must think we have pretty big balls, since we just came from Cherno Alpha,” Yancy said, must have been able to read his laps. Herc nodded his head. Those Beckets were good, considerate boys.

“Have a business proposition for you - mind if we discuss it with your brothers?” Stacker said.

The triplet looked at him and nodded his head. “You bring your whole crew for business proposition?” he said.

“Not the whole crew,” Stacker said. “And besides, last time-”

“You try to rob us,” the triplet replied.

“Oi, you stole it from us first!” Herc replied, and then frowned, legitimately feeling contrite. Stacker had a temper, sure, but he did a good job of keeping it in check. Herc was the one who tended to get them into trouble, whether it be a bar fight or a shootout on some dusty moon owned by some thugs barely out of their teens. Thugs with dreams of some kind of anarchy, where everyone could do as they please and would be happy and well provided for. Maybe their attitude was related to the fact that things weren’t quite working out as planned.

The triplet laughed and replied in Cantonese. “Oh, I know,” he said. “Come on with me, then.”

They were led to a large, sprawling one story structure that was presumably the Wei’s compound. Not much, Herc thought, but then again they’d only settled down two or three years ago after breaking off from the settlement over on Horizon Brave.

The inside looked like the sort of den and sin and vice you would construct if you were barely out of your teens. Everything was red and played to the Weis heritage. There were plenty of lanterns that gave the place a sort of brothel vibe. Not that Herc had ever been in one of those.

“Nice place you’ve got here,” Yancy said.

“You like what you see?” A woman, her head shaved, approached them and smiled. She had several intricate tattoos on her arms and around her neck.

Herc cocked his head at Stacker, but he had presumably come to the same conclusion - this was one of the women who was known to work for Chau. Maybe she’d defected, but it was also possible she was just paying a visit, maybe selling some kaiju blue. Definitely a good thing Geiszler had to be left behind. Herc only hoped that Gottlieb wouldn’t say anything. But, then again, the man couldn’t look more out of place. Herc was still trying to figure out why Stacker would bring him along.

“Yeah, I’ve always really liked dragons,” Yancy said, and he nodded towards a painting hung on a tin wall. He grinned at her, and she grinned back.

“No point, Fang,” said another triplet. He was seated in a chair that was on a platform. There were three, each equal height, and each with something different in traditional Chinese written on them. “That one, he just like dick. Which is fine. Baby brother is prettier, anyway.” Yancy grinned at Fang. Herc resisted the urge to laugh - they’d confused their Beckets.

The third triplet emerged from behind a curtain. “You have business, Pentecost?”

“Maybe,” said Stacker, and the three triplets took their seats. They seemed really amused by something, but you could never tell with them. “We’d like to make a purchase, actually.”

“Oh, no, eyǔ cáng wū nà gòu, want something that we have,” said Cheung.

“And you are best intermediary they can find?” Hu asked. Now that they were in their seats it was apparent who they were - so long as they hadn’t decided to fuck around with the order. Generally they sat from oldest to youngest: Cheung, Jin, Hu.

“I was willing to broker the deal,” Stacker said. “We’d like to purchase some vaccines.”

“You think we have vaccines?” Hu asked. “This look like a place where we just keep medication laying around?”

“Yes,” said Raleigh and Yancy, together.

“Always in the places you least expect,” Raleigh said. He licked his lower lip, slightly.

“And you’ve got a nice case of anti-virals for circan’s flu - presumably that she offloaded with you from a certain mutual...associate of ours,” Stacker said, and he arched an eyebrow towards Fang.

The Weis conferred in rapid fire Cantonese, and one of them laughed. Herc tried to catch Stacker’s eye - and was relieved that it wasn’t just him. They were being played, somehow. He just couldn’t tell how. And he did not like the fact that these three punks were up to something and they couldn’t tell what.

“How much you give us for it? Lots of people coming down with the flu, in this quadrant, you know,” Cheung said.

Stacker gave the price, they negotiated, and then Herc heard the distinct click of a gun somewhere. He’d come to recognize that sound all too well in Serenity Valley as he and Stacker ran around on what were basically suicide missions, hoping that their latest ambush would enable...fuck, something.

Herc moved to the back, slightly, and then had his arm wrapped around one of the Wie’s flunkies and his small hand gun pointed at his temple. “Someone not tell you this was a business negotiation?” he asked. This very well might have been what they were laughing about.

No, they were probably laughing about Fang’s goddamn throwing knives. “Ow! Hey!” Chuck said, and Herc let the flunky go - into the waiting arms of Yancy, who immediately had a gun back on his head. Herc lunged for Chuck as he went down onto the ground, knife embedded in his shoulder. “You fucking-”

“Cunt,” Herc finished for him. He assessed the wound quickly - wasn’t bleeding, so it would be best to leave the knife in for now.

“Oh, I knew this would happen!” Gottlieb said, and basically crumpled behind a pylon. One of the Wei’s boys went after him immediately, but Raleigh kicked him hard in the face and brought him down with his leg.

It got messy, then, knives were flying in the air along with a few scattered gun shots. Herc pressed down and over Chuck, not about to let him get injured again - not like the mistake he’d made during the battle on Scunner. “It’s just a flesh wound, shit,” Chuck said, and he struggled to get back up again. Herc shot in the direction of one of the flunkies who tried to get near them.

It ended when one of the Weis tried to get near Stacker and he just headbutted him to the ground. Everyone seemed to watch the approach and then stopped when Stacker whacked him with his forehead and the kid crumpled. “Motherfucker!” the triplet said.

“How is Chuck?” Stacker asked.

Herc nodded. Chuck was probably going to be more pissed that his jacket was wrecked about that than he was the knife wound. Chuck was right about it being a flesh wound - though he was going to make Geiszler take a look at it, regardless. “Looks like it’s just gonna need some stitches,” Herc said.

“Good. Then you can cut one hundred credits off the price,” Stacker said. He kicked his boot at the Wei on the ground, presumably Cheung, who grinned up at him, blood dripping down from his nose.

“Whatever you say, Stacker,” he said, and laughed. “Go get the vaccines, Hu.”

* * *

“Do they rule this place with an iron fist, or is it just anarchy?” Raleigh asked as they headed back towards Striker Eureka.

“Hard to say,” Herc said. “Told everyone it was going to be an anarchy, but…”

“I can probably fix that jacket for you, Chuck,” Yancy said, bobbing along beside them - both he and Raleigh exemplified the term adrenaline high. In Raleigh’s case it wasn’t that unexpected, kid was generally pretty high energy. Yancy, though, it was about the only time he seemed really awake. Though Herc supposed he probably was also awake when he was...companioning. “It’s leather, but won’t be too difficult-”

“They teach you sewing in the Companion’s Academy?” Chuck asked.

“No,” Yancy said. “Just comes in handy when you’ve got a wardrobe to maintain, you know, fashion expectations when you’re out in the Outer Rim.” He grinned at Chuck. Herc suddenly got an image of Yancy sewing those ridiculous smoking jackets and robes and he groaned.

“Something’s wrong,” Stacker said, nodding at the ship. Herc sensed it immediately as well.

“Tracks, see,” Raleigh said. “Coming back.” He pointed his boot at them. There were three sets of tracks. Herc pulled Vera out of his jacket. He knew he had the right inclination, bringing her along. He’d taken it from one of six assassins sent to kill him by Mutavore - idiot crimelord who had been trying to establish himself in the Outer Rim.

“Dr. Gottlieb, you and Yancy are in charge of that medication,” Stacker said. “I’m not about to get in shit with the Kaidanovsky’s, too.” Yancy nodded. “Needs to be refrigerated,” Stacker explained to Gottlieb.

“So I’m just supposed to enter your spaceship where there might be...thugs, waiting in ambush, to secure this in the medical room’s refrigerator?” he asked.

“Yes,” said Herc. “That’s why you’re getting a nice bunk and an Outer Rim cruise package.”

“That I share with that demented little-”

“Gotta work to get the upgrade,” Chuck said. Herc grinned at him.

“All right,” Stacker said, and he opened the door to the cargo bay. A quick sweep revealed that it was empty, and it wasn’t until Gottlieb and Yancy got to the infirmary that they sort of figured out what had happened.

“Geiszler barricaded himself in there, as soon as he realized there was trouble,” Yancy said over the comm device. “Said it was his duty to protect his patient.”

Herc cocked his head. They’d been talking about how a doctor would be useful. Most of them were as or more expensive than companions, especially out where they were. This one might be eccentric, but-

“And where is my daughter?” Stacker asked, and there was real fury in his voice. Herc understood that, remembered when Chuck had nearly been blown up by that bomb - and it had been Stacker who’d got him out of the way. It should have been Herc, but his collarbone had been broken earlier in the day, and-

“Doesn’t know,” said Yancy.

“If they took Mako-” Stacker said, and then Raleigh made a low sound in his throat and nodded towards the staircase that led up from the floor that contained their living quarters towards the engine room and cockpit. Stacker’s stride was long and powerful, and he and Raleigh were immediately up in the stairs.

Mako had been handcuffed to one part of the engine and left to dangle with tape over her mouth. She had to keep her balance on a rung just below the reach of her feet. Her first words, of course, were, “Sensei, I am sorry, but we were overwhelmed and-”

“Mako,” said Stacker. He put his hands on her shoulder and looked down at her. “Are you injured?”

She shook her head and blushed. Just humiliated, it seemed, and it was lucky for all of them. They still had Chuck to stitch up and Tendo in no condition to move.

“I have failed you,” she said.

“I should have left you Raleigh or Yancy,” Stacker said.

“They took Max,” Mako said, voice soft.

It hung in the air, palpable. Herc grabbed Chuck’s collar, instinctively, but Chuck wasn’t angry with Mako. Instead, he clenched his fists together and then issued a huge, angry roar. “Motherfuckers!”

“Who wouldn’t want to take Max?” Yancy asked.

“You stupid cunt!” Chuck said, and lunged towards Yancy. He was able to dodge Chuck pretty easily, though. Raleigh laughed.

“We need to get you stitched up,” Herc said to Chuck.

“M’fine,” Chuck replied.

“Don’t need that getting infected,” Herc said. “Haven’t got in a new supply of good antibiotics in a while.” Chuck nodded at this - a sign, at least, he had some sense about him. “Then we’ll figure out how to get those little bastards back.”


	3. Chapter 3

“Aw, come on,” said Tendo, when Geiszler walked back in the medical bay to stitch Chuck up. “I just got rid of him!”

“He defended you,” Chuck said.

“Yeah, well, you get locked in here for an hour with him and see if you don’t want a reprieve,” Tendo said. Chuck watched as he moved to sit up, then winced and laid back down again. “Fuck.”

“You look a lot different without that stupid hair,” Chuck said. He sat in the opposite bed and tugged his shirt off so Geiszler could get a good look at the wound. The doctor swabbed at him with something that stung hard enough for Chuck to bite his lower lip.

“That as good as you’ve got?” Tendo asked.

“He’s a bit traumatized,” Raleigh said, and where the hell had he come from? Chuck turned and almost knocked Geiszler off of his stool. He reached to steady him. Geiszler just shook his head. “They took Max.”

“Aw, shit,” Tendo said.

“What the hell do you want?” Chuck asked. Geiszler brought out the mechanical stitching apparatus and began to make quick work of the knife wound.

“Shit, Chuck, not allowed to make sure you’re OK? My main man Tendo is OK?” Raleigh asked. Chuck exhaled through his nose and just stared straight ahead. He didn’t need Raleigh Becket, one of the survivors of Serenity Valley, watching him while he got stitched up for some stupid knife wound - and he really should have seen that knife, since Fang was straight in front of him. Though who used throwing knives, in this day and age?

“I am not OK,” Tendo said. “Can I go back to my room?”

“Gut wounds are notorious for infection,” Geiszler said. “Need to stay somewhere sterile. There - just five stitches, so not bad,” he said, to Chuck.

“Make sure you give him one of the sparkly bandages,” Raleigh said. Chuck made a low huffing sound. “Oh, you wouldn’ t know where those were - let me get one…” Raleigh said, and he moved into the medical bay.

“Fuck. Off.” Chuck said, and he turned sharply again and stared at Raleigh before he could take another couple of steps. Raleigh held his hands up and shook his head.

“Come on, then, let’s figure out how to get that mutt of yours back,” he said. “Can Tendo at least attend the conference, doctor?”

“Well...do you need his input?”

“Yeah,” Raleigh said. “Fastest way to disable those little bastards is to hack into their computer network. You might as well come too, might have a good idea or two.”

Geiszler walked alongside of Chuck while Raleigh had an arm draped over Tendo to steady his balance. “So, you got knifed, huh, dude?” Tendo asked.

“Not - no. Throwing knife,” Chuck said. “Bitch had them-”

“Bald woman? Tattoos?” Geiszler asked. Chuck nodded, and Geiszler made a sad little gurgling sound. “She’s one of Chau’s.”

“Yeah, probably the one who brought the Weis the flu vaccine and probably hanging around to...fourway?” Raleigh said. “What, come on, Newt, no one even knows that we’ve got you here.”

“Yeah, well, except for the three thugs who were on the ship earlier,” Newt said.

“Did they see you?” Chuck asked. They were in the common room by then, and his question got Stacker and Herc’s attention. As it should. Chuck wasn’t just a good pilot.

“Only a glimpse, but…” Newt waved his hand over the brilliant tattoos on his arm. “Kind of distinctive, and, shit, I don’t want to get my balls flayed and fed to Reavers!”

“Fed to Reavers?” Stacker asked, and Herc immediately swallowed hard. Herc hated and feared little aside from Reavers, though as far as Chuck could tell his father had only heard the stories. Still, the whole speech they had got, that one time in the bar - they'll rape you to death, eat your flesh, and sew your skins into their clothing and in that order if you’re lucky was really more than enough.

“Yeah, you know a better way to dispose of a body?” Newt asked. Yancy and Raleigh both shrugged at this.

“Tendo, Gottlieb, need you to monitor the communications out of here, then, make sure Geiszler-”

“Seriously, Newt,” he said.

“Fine, Newt, isn’t pinging any radars. Last thing we need is to deal with Chau,” Stacker said.

“Actually, I, uh...not really much of a hacker, more of a programmer,” Gottlieb said.

“Yeah, well, I learned how to hack, then program,” Tendo said. “Probably works the other way.”

Mako reached into a cabinet and got out a laptop and Raleigh maneuvered Tendo to a couch behind the main table. Gottlieb joined him, taking the laptop that was on the table.

“Those little shits are gonna be fully fortified,” Herc said.

“They’ve actually sent us, a, uh, message,” Tendo said. He nodded at the center of the table and Mako pulled up the holographic image from the machine at the center.

“Is nice dog,” said one of the triplets as the other Wei’s held Max up, making his arms move like he was dancing. Chuck lunged for the holograph, too late realizing that it was just a holograph. He loved his dog. So what?

“If they fucking-” Chuck began.

“We know you have more credits on board, Stacker. Make lots of money off Kaidanovskys for those nutrient bars. Though where you get those…” the triplet continued. “Well.”

“What, do they think they’ve got the whole Outer Rim under their finger? Christ?” Raleigh said. He shook his head.

“So, how much you want your doggy back?” the triplet asked. “I think you pay most handsomely for him.” The number they gave was pretty close to all they had, Chuck knew, though it excluded his and dad’s money.

“Goddamnit,” Chuck said.

“Oi, don’t worry,” Herc said. “They may have taken Max, but-”

“We got tricked by the Weis, _dad,_ , simplest diversion in the book, too, so don’t even say we’ll outsmart them.”

Chuck leaned back in his chair as everyone made suggestions to cobble together a plan - an ambush of their own, and he sighed. Max was the best fucking friend he had, and he was going to lose him because...because they’d been stupid, and complacent, because shit had suddenly got complicated because they had to take on two new passengers.

He found himself looking over at Raleigh. Shit had got complicated once they’d rented the shuttle out to those two, since all of a sudden they had access to places that they never would have before. Higher profile brought higher risk and it didn’t help that lots of people knew booking the Becket’s services meant that you would also have a pretty innocuous way of transporting certain goods or finding eager buyers for said goods.

Raleigh glanced back at him and gave him a sad smile. Chuck nodded his head - he understood, probably, about Max. The dog had always liked Raleigh.

“Wait,” said Geiszler, and he seemed to startle himself by speaking. “You said Fang was there, right, selling them vaccines?” Stacker nodded. “She’s not just gonna make a trip off of Chau’s compound to offload flu vaccines on this hole. She’ll either have tons of shit in her own ship, or...credits. Or whatever payment she’s been receiving.”

Chuck leaned forward again. “Weis can’t have all those flunkies, either, you saw the people that lived in those houses - most of them, they weren’t older than the triplets. Kids who wanted to leave Horizon Brave and probably do have it better off under the Weis…”

“But,” Raleigh said, before Chuck could articulate it, “if the flunkies have something else to protect…”

“And we can make it seem like someone else attacked Fang,” Yancy added.

“Then the Weis are gonna have much bigger problems.”

“Hannibal Chau sized problems.”

“So we just sic Hannibal Chau on all those people?” Stacker asked, and Mako nodded. Herc reluctantly seemed to agree. “The Weis are shit-”

“They stole Max!” Chuck said.

“For ransom,” Herc said. “They probably need the money.”

“If this Fang woman is rather, uh, flush,” said Gottlieb, “well, the best thing to do would be to use her money to pay for your dog’s ransom while making it appear that neither we nor these Weis are responsible. Though it would work best if her reaction could be, ah, stalled…”

“She’s in a Loccent Class Vessel,” Tendo said, typing quickly on his computer.

“Oh,” Mako said. “That is easy. We will just need to alter the array of heating and coolant in the suspension system. This is desolate territory. She will drift in space for some time before Chau can get to her.”

“Would you have to get on the ship to do that?” Stacker asked. Mako shook her head - though it was clear to Chuck that she would do it, regardless, to prove herself after what happened.

“They shouldn’t be expecting us to do the same damn thing that they did, basically,” Herc said.

“Don’t see why we just can’t-” Chuck began.

“Because we are big damn heroes, Chuck,” Raleigh said. “Right, Captain?”

“Sure,” said Stacker. “Let’s figure this out, exactly. Can you pull the computer stuff off?”

“Well, I don’t think-” Tendo was typing furiously, presumably trying to get access into Fang’s system.

“Oh, that’s...a little used Alliance code, but it’s based on Lau’s theorem-” Gottlieb said, and he basically tugged the computer away from Tendo.

“Which is probably why it’s little used, that theorem-” Geiszler said.

“-Is one of the foundational theorems of our current understanding of string theory and-” Gottlieb retorted. Chuck looked back and forth between them, amused despite his best intentions not to be.

“String theory? You’re still gagging over string theory?” Geiszler asked.

“Not the exact term you want to use, there?” Yancy said, raising his eyebrows and looking at Raleigh. “Or maybe it is, you know, I don’t judge…” Both he and Raleigh glanced over at Chuck, then, and Chuck just shook his head at them. As Herc would say, now is not the time.

“Oh, hell, look at that,” said Tendo, manipulating something with his finger and dragging it along the monitor. “Yeah, we can handle it, Captain.” He grinned and Stacker grinned.

* * *

“Look, Mako…” Raleigh began. Mako was strapping two guns to her back and had just checked the weight of the tool kit she had to carry in her backpack.

“You do not think I should do this. That I am just the mechanic,” she said.

“No,” Raleigh said, and he sat down on the steps leading down into the engine room. “It’s just...I know that you think you have something to prove, and you don’t. Stacker fucked up.”

“He did not-”

“The Weis pull shit with everyone,” Raleigh said. “He should have left you with more back up at the ship, just in case. I mean, fuck, he dragged Gottlieb along with us to make sure he knew exactly what he was getting himself into. Could have left Yance with you.”

“I am capable-”

“I would have gone down to three guys,” Raleigh said. _Not necessarily, but probably,_ Yancy thought, leaning in the door. He was going to let his little brother handle the majority of this. He and Mako had more of a connection. “I’m basically just...you’re gonna get this done, OK? But you just need to know that we know, uh, know that-”

“You are one badass lady-woman, Mako Mori,” Yancy said, and shook his head. “And we’re coming along to give you all the coverage you need, so you just focus on what you do best, OK?”

Mako met his eyes and nodded. Hard to believe she was going to be twenty-two, soon - both because Yancy remembered her when she was just Pentecost’s adopted little girl, back at the family camp where most of the noncombatants stayed, and because she had seen way too much for someone so young.

“Let’s do this,” Raleigh said. “This is for real, Mako. And you’ve got this.” She smiled at him and nodded as they left the ship.

They had to be quiet on their run on Fang’s ship. It left Yancy a little too much time to think about the whole thing, what had got them to this place - their mum dying, their father running off, leaving the two of them, and then their neighbor, Mr. Yuen, and if it hadn’t been for him catching them- _goodness, you are too pretty for this sort of thing, too talented. You’d make top dollar as a companion, boy, you know that?...I could get you and that adorable little brother of yours in, you know...you would owe me, of course…_

Yancy thought they’d be set when they ran away to join the Browncoats, wouldn’t have to pretend that they had the same beliefs and ethos as everyone else training with them. They could be their own, again, no debt hanging over their head and everything they earned because of how they fought…but then Raleigh had been shot and gone septic on him at Serenity, and what was he supposed to do? He couldn’t let him die.

 _I understand wanderlust - a shame, since this will have to increase your debt…_ Yuen had said. Yancy shuddered, hearing his voice in his head.

They’d paid, though, paid and then some. And then the first good thing in a long time happened for them. They were sitting in a bar, just finished with their clients, and he overheard someone talking about how someone named Stacker Pentecost was looking to rent out a shuttle on a Firefly Transport Class he had.

Yancy shook his head as they got near Fang’s ship. He inhaled and then exhaled to clear his head and get in the right space for the mission.

Raleigh cocked his head and pointed two fingers at a rocky outcropping where Yancy could position himself with his sniper rifle. Crimson had an eerie glow in the evening, and while the brightness wasn’t beneficial in terms of camouflage it would make it easier for him to see any potential targets.

He saluted Raleigh and Mako and made for his perch. He pulled out his comm tablet once he did an initial visual sweep over the area. _We good, my man?_ he typed to Tendo.

 _Commence sabotage, Becket Boy,_ came the reply. Yancy grinned and used the targeting mechanism on the rifle to flash the code at Mako and Raleigh - red dots flitting right onto the panel Mako was about to break into. Both of them pulled their small gas masks on. Before she began her sabotage she put a mild paralytic into the air supply vent, ensuring that any flunkies left to guard the ship wouldn’t be able to do anything for the next half hour.

He didn’t check the phone again until the job was done - under ten minutes, when Mako-chan had told them fifteen - and then he groaned when he saw the message. Of course if their part, and Tendo’s part, went off without a hitch the only option was for Max’s retrieval to get messy.

He ran down the outcropping - not exactly stealth - and heard Raleigh hiss at him. He raised three fingers and pointed towards the Wei’s compound.

“Oh, well,” Raleigh said to Mako, tossing his gas mask into her backpack. “Good thing you brought those guns, Mako, because we’re going to go in with them blazing.”

“Chuck’s down,” Yancy said. “Shot.” Raleigh snarled and then pulled out his assault rifle.

It was pretty similar to how Chuck had looked when he found out Max had been kidnapped. Yancy glanced at Mako and she smiled slightly. _Damnit,_ Yancy thought, because he was going to owe Tendo - he had put down on Raleigh and Chuck finally realizing their feelings for each other when one or the other got injured.

It was your basic shitshow when they turned up. The entire compound was lit up with flying bullets, one wall was pretty close to collapsing, and Fang’s people were positioned behind a large Jeep they had drive through said collapsed wall. Decor was everywhere, and Yancy nearly tripped over one of those damn lanterns as he entered.

The Weis and their supporters were holding their position from behind a whole bunch of overturned furniture that included their little throne room set up. Fang’s people were fighting both the Weis and their little group. It made Yancy feel a little bit better about sabotaging her damn ship.

“Not ‘cause of the-” Stacker said, grabbing Yancy by the neck and dragging him behind a flipped over table to avoid a gunshot, “-she doesn’t know that we...just planned on double crossing the Weis the whole time.”

“You got played, boy,” Yancy said to one of the triplets, also behind the table with them.

“Fucking Chau,” he said, pulled a grenade out of his pocket. He stood. Yancy grabbed him and pulled him down again, hoping - praying - that he hadn’t made it go live.

“You are gonna blow this whole place up!” he said.

“Already gone to shit,” said the triplet. He waved his hand in the direction of Herc, who had gone a little...well, he had some serious crazy eyes and was making very good use of Vera to take out the remainder of Fang’s goons. And the remainder of the compound, it seemed. There were bullets embedded in the walls and the remaining furniture.

“We got Max?” Yancy asked.

Stacker nodded - Mako had the dog carrier and was running for the door. Raleigh was kneeling over Chuck, one arm outstretched with a small gun, the other applying a tourniquet. _He is so good at multi-tasking,_ Yancy thought.

“All right, fine you want to blow the place - your choice,” Yancy said.

“Would have given you dog,” the triplet said.

Yancy flashed Raleigh and Herc a pinkie finger - duck. Raleigh scooped Chuck up, bridal style, and under any other circumstances Yancy would have thought it was really adorable and romantic. Herc lunged for Fang and she dodged, which was apparently just what he wanted, because the triplet threw the grenade and Yancy covered his ears…

Everything was on fire, for awhile, but everyone aside from Chuck just sustained minor injuries. “If you don’t mind, I need to go and check on-” Stacker said, helping a second triplet to his feet.

“Yes, of course,” he said. He looked another other triplet, who had been firing shots from behind one of their thrones. He held a hand out to Stacker. “We owe you, Pentecost, for your assistance here tonight.”

“No,” Stacker said. “What were we gonna do?”

“Dude, we kidnapped your mascot,” said the triplet nearest Yancy.

“Chau’s done a lot worse,” Stacker said. His vision darkened for a moment. “Yancy, you mind staying here, make sure everything is taken care of?”

Yancy nodded, then saluted Stacker - who was at least in good enough spirits to roll his eyes at him.

* * *

“Goddamnit,” Herc said, holding onto Chuck’s legs while Raleigh had him under the armpits. Raleigh had immediately applied a tight tourniquet made from his belt to Chuck’s leg.

“Already got stabbed today,” Chuck said, and glanced down to his thigh, where the bullet was, as far as Herc could tell, precariously close to having hit his major artery. “Dad?”

“Gonna be fine, Chuck, if Geiszler can fix Tendo’s stomach he can sew up your thigh,” Herc said.

“Good thing we’re not parked too far,” Raleigh said, and he was making stupid quips because he was nervous. “Told you not to eat all that-”

“Fuck off,” Chuck said, and closed his eyes. Raleigh tightened his grip on his shoulders and Chuck startled and opened them again. “Ow.”

“Just stay with us, Chuck, yeah?” Herc said. He wasn’t losing his boy like this - not on some backwards moon, not saving some kids from Chau’s thugs when the kids had stolen their goddamn dog. Somewhere, in the back of his head, he thought that he had never wanted this for Chuck. That maybe he should have found something better for Chuck, for him - that would have been what a good father did.

“Naw,” Chuck said. “Wanna be in the sky with you.” His voice was a little slurred and Herc wanted to know how the kid had basically managed to read his mind. He glanced at Raleigh, who hefted Chuck up slightly to fix his grip on him. “We get Max?”

“Mako has Max,” Herc said. A bullet had grazed her when she’d dove for the dog, but she’d got two clean shots in on the assailant before grabbing Max and sprinting him to safety. She would have come back into the foray if one of the Weis hadn’t introduced a grenade to things.

“Stretcher’s out!” Stacker called, and Geiszler was standing there with Gottlieb, each holding a side. Herc and Raleigh gently set Chuck down on it. He reached and grabbed for Herc’s arm. “Dad?”

“You’re gonna be OK,” Herc said, and then narrowed his eyes in Geiszler’s direction.

“Yeah, I’ll take good care of you, OK, Chuck? You guys want to help lift him off into the medical bay?” They each took an end while Newt grabbed at Chuck’s wrist for his pulse. “I, uh, gonna feel you up now, OK?” He put his hand in Chuck’s groin, right by his cock, and Chuck whimpered. “I know it hurts, but I want to make sure the femoral artery is - OK, we’re good, Chuck, here we are…”

“Don’t go,” Chuck said. Herc nodded and leaned against the wall of the medical bay and nodded his head as Geiszler began to work on him. The first thing he did was pull out a syringe and inject Chuck full of A-Grade painkillers. Herc watched as Chuck’s face softened and then he closed his eyes.

“I’ll get him patched up,” Geiszler said. “Might need to anesthetize him, go in…Becket getting that tourniquet on him probably saved him.”

“I’ll let him know,” Herc said.

“You don’t have to-”

“I’m gonna stay until you do the surgery, at least. In case he wakes up.” Geiszler looked at him, and then nodded.

* * *

Yancy came back, and Stacker was relieved - so things had been cleaned up at the Weis, at least. “Put the bodies of Fang’s people into the ship, launched it,” Yancy said. “That way Chau will know they left...but they’ll drift for days before he realizes that something’s up. The Weis think she was trying to make a play for herself, though, on the kaiju blue. That was why she was talking to them in the first place.”

“Kids,” Stacker said. He’d been in his thirties when he’d joined the Browncoats, had time to develop ethics, morals, ideologies. And he’d been prepared for what they were asking of him - well, not for Serenity. Not watching his men die from injuries that could have been treated while the Independents negotiated the truce. Not watching his men die as they rushed into an almost hopeless fight because of what they believed. He sighed.

“How is Chuck?” Yancy asked. He slid into the kitchen and put a kettle on. This is when their companion training came in handy, Stacker thought. Not only were the boys good with a gun, they knew what the crew needed when they didn’t want to admit to it - although it probably didn’t take companion training to know Herc needed something. He looked ragged and pale and was holding his head in his hands in the dining room.

“Dr. Geiszler has him right now,” Gottlieb said. He was seated next to Tendo, also pale, but at least up and about. “He’s just finishing up the surgery, I believe.”

“Good,” Yancy said. He brought out mugs of some kind of white tea, fragrant and soft, and set one in front of Herc and one in front of Stacker.

“I don’t get tea?” Raleigh asked.

“You always say tea is for girls,” Yancy replied.

“Yeah, well, I just don’t like drinking when I have to, you know? That stuff smells good - where’d you get it?” Raleigh asked.

“Elsa at the Hyperion Station,” Yancy said.

“Oh, yeah, she likes you,” Raleigh replied. Yancy shrugged his shoulders. Stacker imagined that a lot of his clients probably liked him quite a bit.

Yancy brought three more mugs out and slid one down to Mako as well, even though she hadn’t said anything. She seemed shaken by the events and had Max in her lap. She pet his head and was making soft noises at him. She didn’t acknowledge the tea.

Stacker was going to have to talk to her. He was never very good at that.

“You did good out there, Mako,” Yancy said. Stacker blinked and for a moment he saw Yancy in his dirt-crusted browncoat, perched up high in the sniper’s nest they’d settled him in, saluting Stacker as he walked by. Then he blinked again and Yancy was back in his flower printed smoking jacket, soft jersey pants and those goddamn furry slippers.

 _I think he might be a bit…_ Herc said, when Yancy had been assigned to their command.

Stacker shrugged his shoulders. _All the good snipers are._ But maybe Herc had been right.

“Well, thank you,” Mako said. “I am happy to be able to contribute to our success.”

“Wouldn’t call it-” Herc started, but Stacker but his hand on Herc’s knee.

“You contribute to our success everyday, Mako,” Raleigh said, eyes wide. “We wouldn’t be going anywhere if it weren’t for you, and couldn’t be transport class if we weren’t in the sky. Not to mention you got Gipsy fitted onto Striker, and that one time you saved us when the rotator-thingy blew and we were probably gonna drift right into those-” he stopped, likely not wanting to bring up Herc’s heavy fear of Reavers.

“Thank you,” Mako said.

“You are essential,” Stacker said. He put his hand over hers and nodded at her.

Later, when he was able to find her in her room with Max - Herc was busy with Chuck, high as a fucking kite on painkillers - he smiled at her. He resisted the urge to give her the birthday gift he’d purchased. They should wait a day or two so Chuck could participate in the party, so that they would be off Crimson and back in the sky where they belonged. And, hopefully, avoiding the shitstorm that was headed their way once Hannibal Chau figured out what they had done on Crimson.

“The reason I am reluctant to send you out,” he said, “is because without you...none of us can do what you do, Mako. Tendo can fly Striker, so can Raleigh, not as good as Chuck, but…”

Mako mets his eyes and smiled at him. “Yes,” she said. “I understand that.”

“Though you do have a damn good shot,” Stacker said. Mako’s smile broadened, but then her expression turned serious again.

“Will Chuck be all right?”

“Looks like it, just laid up for awhile,” Stacker said. “So probably pretty damn grumpy.”

“This is different how?” Mako asked. Stacker laughed. “Herc will be put out.”

“Herc will drink through that whiskey he bought on Cherno pretty damn quick,” Stacker said.

Mako considered him for a moment and nodded. “Well, you will help,” she said.

“I suppose so,” Stacker replied, and then he turned to go and talk with Tendo and Gottlieb about all of the information they had hacked. As he walked, he kept seeing the sly grin on Mako’s face when she made that last comment.

* * *

Raleigh wasn’t sure if he was welcome in the hospital room, but...well, whatever. He’d been the one who’d held Chuck while he was bleeding all over the ground. Who might have touched his cock a couple of times while he applied the tourniquet high up on his thigh. Not exactly how he had wanted that to happen but he’d pretty much resigned himself to the fact that Chuck had something up his ass - that wasn’t Raleigh’s cock - and it wasn’t going to get dislodged and replaced with Raleigh’s cock anytime soon. All because he’d defended Mako from one of Chuck’s temper tantrums.

Still. Didn’t mean he wasn’t going to check on him. And Herc needed to go and sleep. “I can sit with him for awhile,” he said to Herc.

Herc looked up and then gave Raleigh a slight smile and a nod. He touched Raleigh’s shoulder on his way out. “Thanks,” he said. “You probably saved his life.”

“Oh, well,” Raleigh said. “Just did what…” What he had done for innumerable people at Serenity, he wanted to say, but he didn’t need to. Herc had been there as well.

“He’s been in and out,” Herc said. “Geiszler gave him a bunch of the good stuff, so…”

“Sure,” Raleigh said. He had a tablet in his hand primed with book he had been meaning to read for some time.

It was about half an hour before Chuck woke, and he fluttered his lids and then considered Raleigh. “Becket?”

“Yeah,” said Raleigh. “Your dad needed some food and a shower.”

“Oh,” Chuck said. “I think you saved my life-”

“I did what-”

Chuck sighed. It was sort of a breathy sigh, and for a moment, Raleigh was confused. “Thanks,” he said. “I’m such an asshole.”

“You are,” Raleigh said. “But it could be considered part of your charm?”

“That’s nice of you to say,” Chuck said. “Am I going to be OK?”

“Yeah,” Raleigh said, and he wasn’t sure why - Companion instincts, perhaps? - he reached out and took Chuck’s hand, squeezing it. “You’ll be fine.”

He was still holding Chuck’s hand when Herc returned, an hour later. Chuck was asleep again and Raleigh was balancing his tablet on his lap. He used his free hand to scroll through the book he was reading.

He only noticed Herc was there because he made a slight huffing noise.

“He’s a jerk, you know, but it’s probably my fault,” Herc said.

Raleigh wasn’t entirely sure what to say to this. It was obvious that Herc carried a lot of guilt about what had happened with Chuck, and, sure, going to fight for the Browncoats and leaving Chuck behind might not have been the best parental choice to make. On the other hand, a lot of them had shit happen to them - Mako’s parents had been killed at Onibaba, and she was adopted by Pentecost when he found her in the ruins of the settlement. And he and Yancy-

But then, they were all different, as well. “No,” said Raleigh. “I mean, he’s twenty-one. I was a real shit at twenty-one too.” He glanced around to make sure that Yancy wasn’t there to refute that statement. Raleigh had still been scared at twenty-one - and he’d trusted Yancy, knew they would get out of their situation with Yuen because Yancy said they would, but…

“I was only a year or two off of being a father,” Herc said. He leaned against the wall. “Met Angie at a bar on some station, she was playing at being...you know how rich kids like to do that?”

Raleigh nodded, though Yancy was more skilled with role play than he was.

“Married her, wanted to do the right thing,” Herc continued. “Then she drags me back to Cydney, and I...maybe it was just to spite her parents.”

“Well,” Raleigh said, and he paused for a moment, because this wasn’t something to respond to lightly. “It was meant to be, probably.” He glanced over at Chuck and smiled at Herc.

“Suppose,” Herc said. “Maybe never would have met Stacker - or met him, but as a merc on the other side.” Raleigh tried hard to resist the urge to smile when Herc tied it back to Stacker. Maybe that should be a project he took on - for ship morale purposes.

Chuck stirred. Raleigh reached over and brushed some of his hair out of his face and then stroked his cheek with his thumb. Maybe he was taking advantage - and in front of his dad! - but Chuck needed it.

“Still, he needs to figure some stuff out, you know, act like an adult,” Herc said, after meeting Raleigh’s gaze. “He was the first one to figure out Fang was gonna double cross the Weis, though, when we went to get Max. Got her in the shoulder before she shot Cheung.”

“Oh?” Raleigh said. Just another favor that the Weis owed them - at this point, they shouldn’t have to put up with any more dognappings during any future dealings with the triplets. “Good work, kid.”

Chuck stirred, again, and this time he opened one of his eyes. “Not a kid,” he said. “I’m a pilot.”

“Yes you are,” Raleigh said. “Damn good pilot. And you saved Cheung’s life.”

“He was holding Max,” Chuck said.

Herc cocked his head slightly and Raleigh laughed. “Still,” Raleigh said. “Herc’s back, so I’ve got to go and get some more stuff sorted out - we need to head back to Cherno, get them their vaccines.”

“You better not let Tendo touch Striker,” Chuck said, his other eye opening so that he was staring at Raleigh.

“Can I?” Raleigh asked.

“Yeah,” Chuck said. “Yeah, you can touch Striker.” That dreamy smile came back on his face, and Herc actually blushed slightly, which made Raleigh think - _naw,_ he thought. _Don’t do that again._

He went immediately to the cockpit and hoped Tendo hadn’t beat him - not likely, since he would have a hell of a time going up the ladder with all those incisions in his gut.

He poked his head in and smiled to see the cockpit was empty. It felt strange getting into Chuck’s space like this - few people came up here aside from Stacker, Tendo, or Mako. It was as neat and purposefully organized as you would expect one of Chuck’s spaces to be. He was the only crew member with a bunk that was in pristine order.

Raleigh plugged in coordinates for Cherno and began to run through and check and see if there was anything that was going to impede them on the prescribed route. As the computer ran through all of the other filed flight plans and known pieces of hurtling space junk, he leaned back in Chuck’s chair and caught something bright and plastic lodged behind the console.

Raleigh knew he shouldn’t, but he just couldn’t help himself. He reached carefully and pulled out several little plastic dinosaurs. He pressed his lips together and frowned, but mostly in an _oh, Chuck,_ sort of way. He could imagine these as vestiges of Chuck’s childhood, perhaps something Herc had given him before he headed off to war. Or maybe they meant something else - but, whatever it was, it was sort of personal. Really personal, actually, if he was stashing them in the cockpit of Striker instead of in his room. Raleigh carefully put them back, hoping that he remembered the order. He glanced around and shook his head when he saw that Max had a stuffed stegosaurus in his bed.

 _Goddamnit,_ he thought, and then turned his attention to the flight plan information that had just come in.

* * *

They decided to wait to hold Mako’s birthday celebration until after they delivered the vaccines to Cherno.

“Sorry to hear your son was shot,” said Sasha, accepting the cooler with the vaccines in them.

“Well,” said Herc. “Not his first time. He got stabbed earlier.” Sasha nodded. “That day.” She shook her head.

“Weis are such idiots,” she said. “And you let them kidnap your dog.” She poked Herc in the chest. It occurred to Herc, not for the first time, that Sasha and Aleksis probably had a very open relationship and would be happy for him to join in whenever he was in the vicinity. It was probably what all of the poking was about.

“Well…” said Herc, and really, there wasn’t much excuse for letting them get Max. “Oversight. Tendo was shot.”

“Tendo was shot in this skirmish?” Aleksis asked, suddenly interested. Herc was a little relieved - they’d be better off with Tendo, for sure.

“Yeah, by Allison - his, uh, ex - her husband. Uh, earlier, actually,” Herc said. Was this really his life? He wasn’t entirely certain that this was what he had signed up for when he had agreed to accompany Stacker on Coyote Tango.

“You have a lot of shootings. Must cost lots of money, to get doctor. Especially out here,” Sasha said.

“Oh, well,” Herc said. “Beckets are good with battlefield medicine, you know, pain killers and antibiotics.” Sasha arched an eyebrow and for a moment Herc thought that they were well and truly fucked - Chau would eventually figure out that they were the ones responsible for Fang’s disappearance, and if he also knew that they had Geiszler?

Then Sasha nodded at him, and she actually seemed pleased. Herc felt himself exhale.

“We appreciate this,” said Aleksis. “Already, two people dead.”

“Well, we do what we can for old friends,” Herc said. He emphasized the last part of it and then glanced over at Mako, who had remained largely silent throughout the exchange. She seemed to legitimately appreciate being given the responsibility, though. Sometimes you just had to let your kids spread their wings and fly.

“Mako,” Sasha said. Mako turned, and Herc thought that no good could really come from this. “Your birthday is soon?”

Mako nodded. Sasha beckoned her forward, curling a long finger. Bright red caught the light in the room and seemed to shine. It was a fairly sinister gesture. Herc tried to figure out how he would explain to Stacker that he got Mako hurt. After all, these things tended to happen in threes.

He reached for his gun when Sasha pulled out the knife - but then realized that it was sheathed. Aleksis grinned at him, though, seeming to enjoy how no one underestimated his wife. “All girls should have good knife,” Sasha said. “Never know when it will be useful.”

“Is this a throwing knife?” Mako asked.

“No, no, stabbing knife,” Sasha said. “Cutting knife.” Mako smiled at her, something more savage than Herc had seen on Mako’s face - but it didn’t surprise him, she was, after all, Pentecost’s adopted daughter. He had no doubt taught her quite a bit.

“Thank you,” Mako said, and bowed to her.

“Well, wasn’t that...nice,” Herc said, after they left the crime den.

“Yes,” said Mako. “It is probably useful to have, after all,” she said. “There are many times when I need to cut something, quickly…” Herc nodded, and he just hoped that she was referring to the engine. “We are headed, finally, for Zephyr?”

“Yeah,” he said. “Though I don’t think either passenger wants to get off, anymore…” Herc wasn’t entirely sure he wanted them to get off - Geiszler, while manic and overly talkative, certainly had his uses. Gottlieb did as well, and even if they already had one computer hacker, who knew? Tendo probably had pissed off enough boyfriends, girlfriends, and spouses to warrant some insurance. And besides, there could come a time when they needed a theoretical mathematician, out in the recesses of space.

He left Mako with Tendo when he got back on the ship - he wanted to make sure that Chuck was well and truly mobile enough to leave medical. And he also wanted to have a little chat with him while his son was still largely a captive audience. Herc hoped, at least, that Geiszler hadn’t taken the I.V.s out just yet.

“You feeling all right?” he asked, and let the door close behind him. Chuck nodded his head, though he glanced down at the massive bandages that were covering him. They were wrapped all around his hip and groin, then down the knee to his wounded leg. Geiszler had promised to remove them, though, would bind him up in a straight cast and give him a cane to walk on.

“Enough, yeah,” Chuck said. “You ever get shot in the leg?”

“No,” Herc said. “Shoulder was the worst.” Chuck nodded at this. “Look-”

“Aw, come on,” Chuck said, and he crossed his arms.

“You like Raleigh,” Herc said. There was no point dancing around this.

“I don’t - the fuck?” Chuck said, but his fair skin was betraying him and he was just starting to blush. Herc pressed his lips together.

“So, way I figure it, you gotta figure how you feel about this whole Companion thing,” he said. Chuck blinked at him - he’d clearly already been trying to process it, though, being Chuck, it came out in angry whore comments. “Either you decide you’re OK with that, and you...get on with things...or you’re not, and you move on.”

Chuck furrowed his brow. “But. Shouldn’t he-”

“No,” Herc said. Chuck seemed to have legitimate difficulty with this option. “Lot of training went into that, Chuck. Work. Lot to be proud of.” Maybe something else, too, but Herc would never ask.

“So you think it’s OK-”

“Little different than some other job, yeah, but…” Herc shrugged his shoulders. “Not like you didn’t know what you were getting into. Plenty of Companions in relationships...” And who wouldn’t want...of course, as a father, that wasn’t a point he was going to make to his son.

“Right,” Chuck said.

“You weren’t thinking of an ultimatum, were you?” Herc asked. He really hoped Chuck had more sense than that.

“I...no.” Chuck said, though he reddened further. Herc just shook his head. “Like you’re any good with this shit! Christ, look at you and-” he stopped abruptly and completed his transformation, going full tomato.

“Me and..?” Herc asked, and Chuck shook his head, desperately looking for a reason not to be compelled to open his mouth. He didn’t need to, though, because there were only so many options for Herc to run through and- “I don’t...we’re just...close. As friends.”

“Oh,” Chuck said, then he grinned. “Uh huh. You want to help me out of this bed, old man?”

Herc nodded. If Chuck wasn’t shot in the thigh and stabbed in the chest he would have punched him in the shoulder.

* * *

“Oh, goodness,” Mako said when Raleigh pulled his hands away from her eyes. He had walked her into the common room, body tight against hers, while Yancy trailed behind wearing a birthday hat and tooting a party favor. He passed the supplies out amongst the crew - and he supposed, since they weren’t going to be dropping Gottlieb and Geiszler off at Zephyr that they counted. Typical of Stacker and Herc to just sort of adopt them without any formal decision making process.

“Dr. Gottlieb, Dr. Geiszler,” he said.

“Please, dude, Newt,” said Geiszler.

“Dr. Gottlieb is acceptable,” Gottlieb said. Yancy put a sparkling purple hat on his head and tucked the strap under his chin.

“Gotcha,” he said.

Mako sat down at the community table, where a cake sat along with various presents. The cake had been Yancy and Tendo’s doing - Tendo had baked, Yancy frosted, and it looked reasonably presentable. They’d opted for doing it in Striker’s colors, a simple _Happy 21 Mako!_ written in Yancy’s precise script. “This is very lovely…” she bit at her lower lip with a smile. “Did you bake, Yancy?”

“No,” Yancy replied, and Mako appeared relieved- Yancy had thought that the memory of Stacker’s cake from last year had faded from people’s memories, but apparently not. How was he supposed to know you couldn’t substitute alcohol for the water the recipe called for? Is that not how one made rum cake?

“Should we sing?” Newt asked.

“No,” said Herc and Stacker. Newt frowned, slightly, but Mako just shook her head at him. Stacker handed her a small box from the pile of presents next to him on the bench.

“From Max,” she read, and smiled at Herc and Chuck - who had to lay on the couch, away from the table. He waved a hand at Mako. “Oh, this is very nice,” she said, and removed an actual book that Herc had found for her in a junk sale on some moon - an original text from the Earth That Was, illustrated mythology stories from around the world. “Thank you so much...Max,” she said.

Tendo, as was often his modus operandi since the _World’s Greatest Dad_ incident, gave Mako an ironic coffee mug. Or, at least, Yancy presumed it was, since it seemed to be written in some computer coding language. This was confirmed when Gottlieb laughed at, then looked a little surprised with himself.

Raleigh and Yancy got her some nice shower gel, a massage bar, and some chocolates that Mako smiled at. “I wish someone had told me it was your birthday,” Geiszler said, but he had made her a hand drawn card. He, Yancy decided, was going to fit in just fine.

“All right,” said Stacker, and he handed the tool box shaped box he had wrapped - in his usual precise, perfect way - to Mako. She unwrapped it just as carefully and neatly folded up the wrapping paper before looking at the plain box in front of her.

“Interesting,” she said, and Stacker nodded his head at her. She carefully removed the tape from it and then pursed her lips as she pulled aside some tissue paper and removed something that was definitely pink. _Oh, that’s nice,_ Yancy thought, _he got her a pink toolkit._ But as Mako unfurled the gift it became clear that it was a pink dress, with some slight frilly details and a wide skirt. “Sensei!” she said, set the dress down carefully, and then hugged him. “How did you know?”

“Oh, well…” said Stacker, who glanced over at Raleigh, who did his very best to look innocent - so, not very good at all, but at least Mako was facing away from him. Not that Mako hadn’t already figured it out. Likely she had pointed out something similar out to Raleigh, and, given the timing, he had purchased it and had planned on giving it to Mako. Chocolate and shower gel wasn’t exactly his stype.

 _Aw, little brother,_ Yancy thought, _way to take one for the team._

Mako said something to him in Japanese, and Stacker just gave her a soft smile. “It is perfect,” she added, and held it up to herself.

Chuck seemed a little confused by the whole thing - Yancy had the urge to pat him on the head, he was clearly swimming in an ocean of glorious painkillers. “It is really pink,” he managed, which, on the scale of probable Chuck responses to the dress was pretty good, actually.

“I do not have a dress,” Mako said.

“No, I know,” Chuck said. “Herc wanted to buy you coveralls, but I said, I think she has some of those…” He gave her a loopy smile - Yancy narrowed his eyes. Chuck wasn’t just being less of a dick because he was on painkillers. Had there been an emotional father/son moment?

“Who wants cake?” Mako asked, carefully folding the dress and placing it back into the box.

“More importantly, who wants booze?” Tendo asked.

“Do we have to choose between the two?” Yancy asked.

“Well, I didn’t consider pairings,” Tendo said,.

Raleigh poured everyone a shot of vodka, which they all raised. “To Mako,” he said. “And many more years to come.” Mako smiled at him, and then they downed the first of what would be many shots over the course of the evening.

Birthday parties tended to be a bit raucous, but recent events led to this one possibly getting a little out of hand - and relatively early in the evening, as well. Yancy leaned back and observed for most of it, occasionally jumping in to tell a story when whoever was telling it wasn’t quite making it as humorous as they could. He preferred watching, though, he got to see various relationships develop or solidify over the course of the evening.

So Yancy watched as Gottlieb and Geiszler went from bickering to sort of laughing with each other and quickly pulled Mako and Tendo in for some sort of full-out computer and/or science nerd discussion that often sounded like it was occurring in a different language. He was pretty sure that they were telling jokes, though, and it was good to see. Gottlieb and Geiszler weren’t all that different from how they had all been, after the Browncoats had lost - looking for a new purpose, a new family, a new way to define themselves.

Mako and Tendo broke away on occasion, though, with Mako throwing an arm around Raleigh and kissing his cheek and then dragging him off into a corner to talk to him about something. Tendo came up behind Yancy and draped his arms around him. “Becket Boy,” he said, “you enjoying yourself?”

“Course,” Yancy said. “Just because I’m quiet-”

“When are you ever quiet?” Tendo asked.

“When I’m being contemplative,” Yancy replied. “It’s been known to happen, now and again…” Tendo shook his head at him, like he wasn’t taking complete advantage of the situation.

Herc and Stacker pulled back, as well, perhaps feeling that they needed to maintain some sort of air of authority - and it also seemed like Herc had something that he needed to talk to Stacker about. Raleigh flit between talking to Mako, Yancy, and even Chuck - and then, somehow, he was the one who decided to help Chuck back to his quarters when he started to fade.

At this point, Tendo, Mako, and the scientists decided that it was time to start singing something - Yancy supposed he could figure out what it was, if he tried hard enough, but he wasn’t entirely sure that he wanted to. So he stood, kissed Mako on the forehead, and then headed back for Gipsy.

He opened the door to the shuttle and it took him a moment to adjust to the dimmer lighting and another moment to realize that there was someone in the shuttle. “Oh, hey, Rals-” he said, and then he realized that there were someones. Making out with one another. “Oh, sorry,” he said. “I’ll just go and - back to the party.”

Raleigh waved at him while Chuck turned his head away and appeared to be blushing - which, really? Not only had he seen Chuck naked in the shower before, but he was a Companion.

Yancy wasn’t surprised when he got back to the party and found that Stacker and Herc had retired for the evening. “Yancy!” Tendo and Mako said.

They were quite drunk, Yancy realized, and someone should probably hang around and make sure they all drank sufficient water, took some medication for their eventual hangovers, and didn’t do anything that they were going to regret. That’s what friends were for, right?

* * *

“Look, Raleigh, I…” Chuck stopped, because he wasn’t entirely sure what to say as they headed down the hallway towards where the crew’s bunks were. “I should probably apologize to you for being…”

“That’s just the painkillers talking,” Raleigh said, though he sounded almost genial enough about it.

Chuck shook his head and then stumbled, not remembering that there was a single step up. Raleigh caught him immediately on the upper-arm and, instead of shrugging him off like he normally would have, Chuck leaned into the touch. Raleigh smelled nice - but, of course he smelled nice, he was supposed to smell nice. “I shouldn’t have said some things.”

“Well, I appreciate that-” Raleigh said. Chuck leaned in so he was a little closer to Raleigh’s face. It was probably a good thing that he was on painkillers, otherwise he probably wouldn’t have come to his next decision to quickly.

“Most things, actually,” Chuck said.

What Herc said had struck him - Chuck had a crush on Raleigh since he had first met him, and it had infuriated him. He’d heard so many stories about the Beckets and their exploits and bravery, from both Stacker and Herc, and he’d been prepared for a lot of things when they turned up. He hadn’t been prepared for them to be hot, though.

Well, Raleigh was especially hot, and for about five minutes Chuck had been excited about the latest addition to the crew until Herc said that they worked as Companions. It had only got more infuriating as he got to know Raleigh, got to really like him. And it wasn’t like Chuck had been saving himself for Raleigh, either, he’d had relationship with people over the past few years but none of them had ever really stuck. And it wasn’t like it was easy, when you lived on a spaceship and they lived wherever they did.

He tried to muddle through it. Was all he was pissed off about the fact that Raleigh was a Companion? And, if so, he probably should interrogate why that was. The thought of Raleigh being with someone else, besides him, intimate with someone else? And sure, Raleigh took a lot of pride in his job and Chuck knew he was very good at it - but it was a job, not his home. Like those ships Chuck had flown when he’d taken odd jobs as a pilot in between Coyote’s destruction and Herc buying Striker.

Or something. It had made sense when Chuck had thought through it, a few hours earlier, but now he’d had a vodka shot on top of the painkillers and he was tired.

Chuck leaned in and was close to Raleigh’s face, and he smiled at him. “I like you.”

“I like you, too, Chuck,” Raleigh said, and he was being really sweet. Chuck felt himself blush. He didn’t deserve it. He was probably coming across as a drunk teenager. “You’re a good-”

“Good,” Chuck said, and he kissed Raleigh. It was not one of his best kisses, but… it was a point of contact, and it wasn’t that bad, either. He kept it light and just slid his lips against Raleigh’s.

“Oh,” Raleigh said. Then, “ _Oh._ You like me.”

“Yeah,” Chuck said. “It was why I got angrier about your-” he waved his hand, “-occupation.”

“Right,” said Raleigh. “But-”

“You don’t, uh, like any of your clients? Love them?” Chuck had heard about this - no, who was he kidding, he had read about this - happening with some Companions and their clients, and how this led to long-term arrangements.

“God, no,” Raleigh said. “I mean, there are some I’m pretty fond of, but as clients. Not like how - I like you, too, you dumb ass.”

“Oh,” Chuck said. “Well, that works.”

Raleigh put a hand on his shoulder and turned Chuck so that he was facing Raleigh. “I am going to keep having clients.”

“I know,” Chuck said. “Can’t guarantee I’ll always be as relaxed about it, uh, as I am, now, but I want to be?” Raleigh grinned at this, and it was probably better, Chuck thought, than acting like he had totally worked through all of his issues over it since he’d been shot.

“I think we can work with that,” Raleigh said. “C’mon,” he headed up the step again and towards the left.

“To the shuttle?” Chuck asked.

“Yeah,” Raleigh said. “Unless you want to make out on your tiny ass bunk?”

“Uh,” Chuck said. “No.”

He’d never actually been in Gipsy Danger - the name still made him snort derisively - and had only peered inside it a few times. It wasn’t exactly what he thought the Beckets living quarters would look like, but he had to remind himself that there was quite a bit that was probably somehow mandated by the Companion’s Guild. The only thing that struck him as really _them_ were all of the black and white pictures that hung against one of the walls, featuring pictures of the two of them in a variety of different places. Chuck was also pretty sure that he saw a few Browncoat era shots put in there as well.

“Here,” Raleigh said, and guided Chuck onto a quite comfortable chaise lounge that was covered in a soft, slightly furry fabric.

“This is Yancy’s, right?” he asked.

“Generally anything furry, yeah,” Raleigh said. “Or pink. Furry and pink.”

“Your brother-” Chuck began, as Raleigh kneeled down next to him so he was almost at the same level as Chuck’s face.

“I know, I know,” Raleigh said. “I can’t...you know, I don’t know,” he said.

“It’s OK,” Chuck said. He grinned at Raleigh, and Raleigh grinned at him.

Raleigh leaned in this time and kissed Chuck, and this was - well, Chuck expected that Raleigh would be a good kisser, considering he got to charge for it, but he hadn’t thought that kissing could possibly be _this_ good. Raleigh moved his lips lightly against Chuck’s and gradually added more pressure until he slowly opened Chuck’s mouth, moved his tongue in, and then twisted it in a way that felt really incredible. Chuck moaned, and Raleigh pulled back and smiled at him.

“I haven’t kissed anyone in a long time,” he said.

Chuck smiled at him, and was really pleased that, despite the verbal diarrhea that the painkillers tended to inspire in him, he didn’t say anything about how it was true that whores didn’t kiss on the mouth.

“I haven’t ever kissed anyone like that,” Chuck replied. Raleigh’s grin widened, if possible, and Chuck dipped down to meet his mouth again, kissed him a little harder, and worked his tongue inside. Raleigh made a groaning sound as he pulled Chuck in closer. He could kiss Raleigh like this forever, objectively, though his dick would appreciate if something else were to happen over the course of the evening.

Raleigh glanced down, right at that moment, and he gave Chuck a sly smile that was all Raleigh and, Chuck decided, probably nothing like he gave his clients - and that would be how it would work. If it worked. And he wanted it to work. So, as long as he got the Raleigh who got involved in all of Herc and Stacker’s stupid criminal escapades, was fiercely loyal to his brother and Mako, and occasionally made ill-advised decisions, he was fine. “I was wondering if your cast covered your cock,” Raleigh said.

“Nope,” Chuck replied. Raleigh went back to kissing him. “Though it’s pretty damn close.”

“We’ll have to sort that out, I think,” he murmured.

“I’d appreciate that,” Chuck said. “Though I can’t really-” But, fuck, he wanted to.

“Well,” Raleigh said, and this time his smile was softer. “Gives us something to look forward to, doesn’t it?”

* * *

Yancy tucked them all in where they passed out after administering the water and painkillers. He only hoped that Chuck and Raleigh were done...well, they couldn’t have got up to much, considering that Chuck had a chunky soft cast going straight into his groin and couldn’t move his one leg.

On the other hand, Raleigh was always praised for how flexible he was-

Yancy figured Chuck had probably left the door to his room open and was pleased when he was right. He didn’t feel like joining the nerds in their soft cuddle pile and figured Chuck’s bed was more comfortable than the infirmary cot.

He grinned when he opened the door and flopped down. Max made a grunting sound from the far corner of the room. “I know, I know, I got displaced, though, buddy, and trust me, Chuck is in a happy place,” Yancy said. Even though Chuck insisted that Max was traumatized from his kidnapping ordeal, he seemed no different - well, a little more sensitive to noise, but that was probably from all of the gunshots more than the actual kidnapping portion of the experience.

Max just seemed happy that a person had arrived and sunk into the bed, so he huffed up out of his dog bed and put his front paws up on Chuck’s bunk. Yancy scooped him up and then wished he hadn’t when Max immediately climbed on top of his balls and began to make another huffing, sort of snoring sound.

This might, however, explain Chuck’s attitude problem. Partially, at least. There was no way you could sleep with that sound.

Once Yancy settled in and got used to the noises of the ship that came from being in Striker proper, he smiled and hoped that someone sensible had made provisions for a hangover breakfast tomorrow.

Then he heard something.

Yancy had relatively good hearing, and it only took a moment to realize what it was - the sound of loud, booming laughter. “No, no, and then she said to me-”

“I know, mate, I was there!”

“Right, you were! Where weren’t you?”

“Well…”

“Never needed anyone but you, Herc.”

There was no reply to this, and while Yancy was inclined to treat this as another touching moment in their friendship… he shook his head. It was best not to think about things like _that_. His brother and Chuck were more than enough.

Instead, he reached forward and grabbed at Max - who proved exceedingly difficult to move, now that he had snuggled in for the night on Yancy’s junk. “I need that for work, you know,” he said, and poked at Max. The dog did not seem to care.

Yancy sighed. It wasn’t exactly worth fighting over.

“I...uh, well. Stacker. That’s…I’ve always thought...but, uh...wanted...”

Yancy thought that he might finally understand that one expression from the Earth That Was - between a rock and a hard place. He sighed and wondered if he could coerce Max into falling asleep on his head.


End file.
